My Partner
by wrightersbloq
Summary: What would you do if the most important thing in your life was taken away from you? Who would you become? What would you do to get it back? And, if you had the chance to do things differently, how far would you go to take that chance?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I was just recently introduced to Miraculous Ladybug by my girlfriend, and I was inspired to write about this series. At the time of writing this story, I have not seen season 2, so if there are any discrepancies with the canon, I don't know all of them. If they happen to bug you, then just think of this an and AU. I don't intend for this to be an AU, but there you go. Also, I apologize if the summary is misleading, or if the genres are (and if the summary _is_ misleading, could you tell me a better one to use?) Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug.**

LINE BREAK

"I can't believe I'm late again!" Marinette cried as she raced to school. She had overslept once again, and now she was over an hour late for school.

"At least this time it wasn't your fault." The Kwami Tikki rationalized as she flew beside Marinette. "You were up all night fighting supervillains." And indeed she had. An unprecedented number of akumatizations had occurred last night (five, to be exact), and she and Cat Noir were up for hours fighting them all off. Even as she ran to the school, Marinette could feel the remnants of her exhaustion. Within a couple minutes, she arrived at school, expecting to get yelled at once more for tardiness. Instead, she found a commotion in the back of her classroom, and the teacher was nowhere to be found. She came up to a group of students congregated around a seat in the back.

"What's going on?" She whispered to Alya, who was snapping pictures in the back of the group. Her best friend turned to her at the sound of her voice.

"Oh, hey girl." She replied. "Finally got here?" Marinette grumbled out something indiscernible, and Alya laughed. She wrapped one arm around Marinette's shoulders, and guided her to the spot where she had just been standing. The sight that greeted Marinette's eyes was that of a boy sitting in the seat next to Ivan. He was about as tall as Alya, and he was wearing a hooded indigo jacket. The zipper of the jacket was open, revealing a light blue tee shirt. Around his neck hung a simple necklace: A single, but relatively thick black string adorned with only a silver pendant depicting a spider. He wore a pair of blue jeans, and his ragged raven-black hair swept just past his ears. His eyes were cerulean blue, and his tanned skin was unblemished. Everybody crowded around him, trying to talk to him. He smiled and replied to everybody, revealing a set of perfect, pearl-white teeth.

"He seems familiar." A voice said next to her. Marinette gasped and quickly snatched Tikki back up.

"Tikki, what are you doing?" Marinette hissed, glancing around furtively to see if anybody saw. Fortunately, Alya was to busy talking with the new guy, and everybody else was totally focused on him as well. She quickly stuffed Tikki back in her purse and walked up to the new guy. He noticed her, and smiled. Before either of them could say anything, a snobby voice broke through the room.

"Out of the way people." Chloe said, pushing students aside, her sidekick Sabrina not far behind. She came to a stop in front of the new boy, pushing Marinette into Alya as she did. Chloe placed her arms on the desk and leaned forward provocatively. "Hello, handsome. I'm Chloe, the daughter of Mayor Bourgeois. You and I should totally go out sometime." She held out her hand, as if expecting him to kiss it. There was a pause, before the new guy slapped the hand away in disgust.

"So, you're the school's resident bitch." He said, his voice coming out as a calm hiss that was strangely pleasant to listen to. Chloe recoiled.

"What did you say to me?" She cried incredulously. The new guy scowled.

"You heard me." He replied. "I've seen your type before. You're a narcissistic tramp who throws herself at any decent-looking guy you see, toys around with them for your amusement, and then throws them aside and finds someone new." Chloe stamped her foot.

"How dare you talk to me that way!" She screeched. "Wait until my Daddy hears about this!" The new boy slammed his arms on the desk and rose out of his seat. All of the nearest students flinched away from him.

"Oh, a Daddy's girl, is it?" He replied, without raising his voice. "Tell me, can you actually do anything yourself, or do you need to call your father for everything?" He grinned mischievously. "Tell me, are you scared of spiders?" Chloe's eyes flicked to the necklace around the boy's neck, her face whitened, and she whirled around and huffed out the door, Sabrina on her heels. There was another pause, and then everybody cheered. Ivan even clapped him on the back, causing him to lurch forward. The new boy laughed, a musical sound that seemed to lift Marinette off of her feet. Suddenly, she looked around, realizing that the teacher hadn't shown up yet.

"Where's the teacher?" She wondered aloud.

"Oh, she failed to show up." The new boy said. "You know that rule, 'if the teacher doesn't show up after fifteen minutes, the students can go home?'" Marinette nodded. "It's been almost two hours. We were all free to go quite some time ago, but everybody seems to want to get a know me." He held out his hand, and Marinette shook it. "My name is Cameron. Cameron Lafitte."

"I'm Marinette." She replied. Cameron smiled. Marinette felt a tingling sensation in her stomach. She had no idea she'd been musing until Cameron's voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Hey Marinette, are you alright?" He asked. Marinette blinked her eyes, and suddenly, she was back in control of herself.

"Sorry, what were you saying? I zoned out for a second." She replied, mentally kicking herself behind her smile. Cameron snorted.

"A second?" He replied. "You've been out of it for the better part of half an hour. Everybody else left." Startled, she looked around the room, only to find that it was true. She turned back to Cameron, who was looking at her with a playful smile. She blushed. "However, I'm kind of glad that you and I got some alone time." When she heard that, Marinette's heart began to flutter, though she didn't know why.

"W-Why?" She stammered out. Cameron chuckled and reached into a pocket on the inside of his jacket. Suddenly, Marinette felt an irrational flash of fear course through her. Cameron laughed and pulled out a folded paper.

"You don't have Papyrophobia, do you?" He asked as he began to unfold the paper. Not waiting for her to reply, he set the paper on the desk, revealing it to be a poster depicting the superheroine Ladybug striking a pose. "Anyway, I wanted to show you this." He said. He saw her staring at the poster and smirked. "It's a remarkable likeness, don't you think?" Marinette couldn't help but nod. This particular photograph _had_ captured her image remarkably well. "In fact, I'd almost say it works as a self-portrait. Wouldn't you agree, Ladybug?" Marinette nearly jumped out of her skin. The voice had sounded so _evil_ , she had trouble associating the voice with the boy sitting in front of her.

"What?" She asked. Cameron scoffed.

"Come on!" He exclaimed. "I know you're Ladybug." He gestured to the picture for emphasis. "God, it's so _obvious_. You have the same hair, the same eyes, the same body type, you even have the same voice." He pulled out a phone from one of his pockets, pressed a button, and a recording of Marinette's voice began to play. _"New to Paris, huh? Well, I'm Ladybug. Nice to meet you."_ Cameron pressed the button again, and the recording shut off. Suddenly, Marinette realized why Tikki had thought this guy was familiar: she had met him last night when she was fighting off those supervillains. It had only happened in passing , so she hadn't really thought about it. "I'd have to be an idiot not to see the similarities." Cameron's voice broke her out of her thoughts. Seeing that he was about to deny it, he pointed to her. "You're even wearing the same earrings." Marinette simply opened and closed her mouth over and over like a fish. Cameron just raised an eyebrow. Finally, Marinette sighed.

"Fine, you got me." She conceded. "I admit it." Cameron grinned. "But you can't tell anybody!" She got in Cameron's face. Cameron held his hands up.

"Oh, I won't tell anybody." He promised. "I promise. I can keep secrets too, you know." There was a pause following that, before Cameron suddenly stood up, causing Marinette to lurch backward.

"What the-" She started, but Cameron caught her before she could fall.

"Can you show me your Kwami?" He interrupted eagerly. Marinette gasped.

"How do you know about the Kwamis?" She choked out. Cameron simply smiled.

"Maybe I can answer that if you show me." He replied. Marinette, realizing that Cameron was still holding her, quickly extracted herself from his grasp, and placed a hand on her purse. After a moment of hesitation, she opened it, and removed Tikki, who sat calmly on her palm. Cameron stared at her for a moment, then began giggling in glee. Suddenly, much faster than Marinette thought he could move, he snatched Tikki out of her hands. Marinette gasped, and Tikki cried out, but it was too late. Cameron was holding Tikki gently in his hands. "Oh my God, I can't believe how cute you are! You must be Tikki, right? You're even more adorable than he said you would be!" Cameron was smiling wildly. Then, he suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing. He cradled Tikki in one hand, and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with the other. "Sorry about that. I got a little carried away." He carefully handed Tikki back to Marinette. Once Tikki was back in her hands, Marinette clutched the Kwami to her chest.

"I want an explanation, now." She said shakily. She was still shocked by his speed. Cameron nodded.

"Right, right. I'm sorry about that." He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, and he pulled out something else. This time, instead of revealing a piece of paper in his hand, he revealed something that made Marinette's heart rate speed up. Curled up in Cameron's hand was a deep lavender Kwami. "Phoo, say hi to Marinette. Don't be scared." He started to stroke the little Kwami gently with his finger. The Kwami shivered, it's tiny body shaking in his palm. It rose from his palm, and Marinette could make it out clearly. The Kwami was about he same size and shape as Tikki, except that it was a deep lavender color, had an extra set of arms, completely red eyes, a smaller pair of red eyes above and slightly to the sides of those, and short lavender fur covering it's tiny body. The Kwami quickly hid behind Cameron, peeking out from behind his neck tentatively. "This is Phoo." Cameron explained. "He's my Kwami. I used to live in China, a couple years ago. Before I moved here, I found this." He fingered his necklace.

"The Necklace of the Spider." Tikki said in awe. Cameron nodded.

"Exactly." He replied. "Phoo explained the whole deal about Kwamis and Miraculouses. I even did some hero work while I was still in Beijing." He reached behind him, and cupped Phoo in one of his hands. "Hey Phoo, wanna show them how awesome you are?" The Kwami studied Cameron for a little bit, then nodded.

"As you wish, Milord." He replied, his voice childish and cute. _Kind of like Tikki's._ Marinette thought. Without warning, Cameron tossed Phoo into the air, and spread his arms wide, as if expecting a hug.

"Phoo, Webbing: Spin!" He cried. Immediately, Phoo flew into Cameron's necklace. There was bright flash of violet light, and a wave of lavender and violet spread out from the necklace, transforming as it went. Once it reached the sides of Cameron's jacket, the light continued outward, becoming two extra sets of arms clad in a deep lavender outfit. The wave of energy continued to roll down Cameron's pants, until his entire body was clad in a deep lavender body suit, just like his extra arms. A circular bulge, reminiscent of a spider's abdomen, adorned his back like a backpack. On his head, he wore a mask similar to the one Ladybug wears, but this one was deep lavender, and depicted an extra set of smaller, pure red eyes above them, just like Phoo. In the front of the body suit, the silver spider emblem from the necklace was embedded into the lavender material, the five lights on the abdomen contrasting strikingly with it. Upon seeing Cameron's transformation, Marinette gasped and recoiled from him. Cameron cocked his head. "Is my transformation really so shocking?" He asked. Marinette, shook her head, trying to dispel the irrational fear that had overcome her once again.

"I-I'm sorry." She said. "I was just shocked. Here, it's my turn. Tikki, Spots On!" And, upon saying the words, she transformed into Ladybug. Cameron looked her over for a moment, then nodded.

"You're just as impressive as before." He said. Ladybug raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks." She replied. She pointed to Cameron's extra arms. "Are those real, or are they just for decoration?" Instead of answering, Cameron flexed a pair of arms, set another pair playing rock-paper-scissors against each other, and made two thumbs-up with the remaining pair. Ladybug scoffed. "Show-off. You remind me of Cat Noir." Cameron shrugged with all of his arms, which made him look like he was doing the wave with himself. Ladybug laughed. Before either of them could say anything, there was loud boom. Both of them froze. Then Ladybug smirked. "Ready for your Paris debut?"


	2. Chapter 2

When Ladybug and Cameron found Cat Noir, he was sitting on he roof of a building overlooking the Eiffel Tower. When the two of them arrived, Cat Noir's eyes widened.

"Woah. You're armed to the teeth." He said to Cameron, who grinned and flashed a peace sign with each of his hands.

"I guess I prefer a hands-on approach." He replied. Cat Noir grinned, while Ladybug scoffed.

"Exactly like him." She muttered to herself. However, Cat Noir still heard her, and he draped his arm around her.

"Not to worry, Milady." He said. "There will only be one Cat Noir." Ladybug scoffed again, and removed his arm from around her. Cat Noir, unfazed, turned to Cameron. "So, what's your name?"

"I'm Spyder. I'll be assisting you two from today on." Cameron replied. Cat Noir raised an eyebrow.

"Spyder?" He asked. "Because you look like a spider? Real original." Spyder pointed at him with one of his arms.

"Says the guy who literally named himself 'Black Cat'." He said. Cat Noir hesitated for a moment, then shrugged.

"Touche." He replied. Ladybug snapped her fingers to get their attention. They both turned to her.

"Nice to see you two are getting along well, but we have a job to do." She said. The boys nodded. "Cat Noir, have you seen anything?"

"Yeah, the villain's name is Midas." He replied. "He turns whatever he touches to gold. He wants to make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower, because he thinks that will let him turn the entire city into gold. I already had to use my Cataclysm. I just got back a minute ago." Suddenly, there was a scream, and the trio turned to see a woman running toward the Eiffel Tower, being chased by a man wearing golden knight's armor, including a golden helmet, golden leg guards, and golden gauntlets. His gauntlets were a brighter, purer gold than the rest of his armor. "The Akuma is in his gauntlets." Cat Noir said, before drawing his staff and leaping to the woman's rescue.

"Cat Noir, wait!" Ladybug cried, but it was too late. The feline superhero swung at Midas in midair, but the golden villain had turned toward him after hearing Ladybug's cry. He raised a gauntlet toward Cat Noir, who could do nothing to avoid it. "No!" Ladybug shouted, but she was too far away to help. Suddenly, the bulge on Spyder's back opened at the top, and a small lavender ball shot out. Spyder's top left arm snatched it out of the air. He wound up his arm, and he chucked the ball as hard as he could. It streaked past Cat Noir, and impacted the ground underneath the outstretched gauntlet. As soon as the ball hit the ground, it created a web of cracks, and shot straight upward. The next thing the ball struck was the golden gauntlet. The instant the ball touched the gauntlet, it became a bright, golden sheen. The gauntlet cracked and was knocked to the side, just as Cat Noir came within touching distance. Instead of grasping onto him, the gauntlet closed around his stick, transforming it into a shiny golden rod. Cat Noir crashed into Midas, and the two went tumbling. Ladybug looked back at Spyder, and found that he was holding three more of those balls, one in each of the hands on the right side of his body. "Bouncy balls?"

"Like you can judge." Spyder replied. "You use a Yo-Yo." After saying that, he leaped of of the building toward Cat Noir and Midas, who had both risen and were beginning to fight. Ladybug followed quickly behind, spinning her Yo-Yo.

"That's it." Cat Noir cried as he dodged a lunge and Midas turned the entire plaza to gold. He raised his hand. "Cataclysm!" The black orb of power began swirling in his palm. He charged at Midas, lunging at the gauntlets. Midas stepped to the side, and Cat Noir ended up destroying the newly gold plaza. Before he could react, he was pounded on the back by one of Midas' fists, and he immediately turned into a golden statue.

"Cat Noir!" Ladybug cried out. She threw her Yo-Yo at Midas, but it was knocked away by a lavender streak. "What are you doing!?" She yelled at Spyder, who was bouncing the other two balls between his hands.

"Be smart." He called back. "If he turns your Yo-Yo to gold, how will you be able to capture the Akuma?" Just then, Midas rushed toward Spyder. In response, Spyder threw the two balls in his hands at the ground near his feet, and they bounced at a wicked angle, shooting towards Midas' feet. He crashed to the ground, resulting in a tremendous clanging sound.

"Do you think that you can defeat me while I'm surrounded by this much gold?" Midas roared, his voice echoing about in his helmet. "I am the Golden King! All gold bows to me!" Suddenly, Midas stood up, unscathed.

"Figures." Spyder muttered. He called over to Ladybug. "I'll find a way to keep him busy. Just find out how to get his Akuma." And suddenly, he was desperately trying to avoid Midas' touch, but it seemed like the ground itself was fighting his progress (which it was). Ladybug looked over the scene for a moment, a small sense of panic setting into her stomach. She quickly picked up her Yo-Yo. She tossed it straight up, spinning, and struck a pose.

"Lucky Charm!" She cried. Her power activated, summoning forth a chisel, which landed in her waiting hands. "A chisel? How am I supposed to use this?" She looked around desperately, hoping to see her way through the problem like she normally did. However, this time, she couldn't see anyway out of this predicament. She caught sight of Spyder, still dodging the touch of Midas, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before Midas managed to make contact. Suddenly, Ladybug got an Idea. "Spyder, use your power!" Spyder leaped as far away from Midas as he could. Almost immediately, there was a sizable distance between the two. As soon as he landed, Spyder extended all of his arms, and brought them to the center of his body. His normal eyes flashed the same red as his extra ones.

"Arachnophobia." He said in a calm and sinister voice. Suddenly, an orb of darkness formed between his hands, very much like Cat Noir's Cataclysm. Spyder spread his arms out once more, the black orb splitting into six smaller orbs, each one clasped in a separate hand. He threw an orb at Midas, who jumped out of the way. The orb spilled over the ground as if it were a liquid, and as it spread, it transformed into hundreds of spiders. Despite herself, Ladybug screamed. The spiders swarmed over the ground toward Midas. Spyder tossed the orbs at Midas one by one, each orb spawning hundreds of spiders when Midas dodged them. By the time Spyder had tossed all of his orbs, the entire plaza was covered in a carpet made of tens of thousands of spiders. Suddenly, Ladybug found it very difficult to think through the haze of fear that had gripped her. Her entire body felt cold and numb, as if she was laying on a bed of needles. She could feel her heart beating so fast and loud that she could barely hear anything else. It took her a moment to realize that Spyder was talking to her. She forced herself to focus on his voice. "Ladybug!" He called. "Whatever you plan on doing, do it now! My spiders will disappear when I change back!" Ladybug, hearing those words, was able to ignore her mounting terror, and focus once more on freeing the Akuma. She spotted Midas, who was trying to fight off a mountainous grouping of spiders. He was swatting at them with his gauntlets, but none of them were transforming into gold, because the spiders were constantly emitting a stream of webbing, which was very quickly binding Midas. As the spiders swarmed over Midas, weaving an even more secure prison, the webbing transformed into gold, which bound him even more snugly than before. "Go Ladybug!" Spyder cried. "He's too afraid to move! Capture his Akuma before I change back!" The thought of their large advantage disappearing is what finally drove Ladybug to action. She waded throughout the sea of spiders, stifling screams, until she came up to Midas, who was now frozen in a golden cocoon. Ladybug quickly set the point of the chisel into one of the cracks on the gauntlet that Spyder had damaged before, and pounded her Yo-Yo against it like a hammer. The cracks widened, and then the gauntlet shattered, spraying the surrounding spiders with gold shrapnel. Out of the shrapnel, an Akuma emerged and tried to fly away. Ladybug made a tsk noise, and let her Yo-Yo swing.

"No more evildoing for you, little Akuma." She said, momentarily forgetting the spiders swarming round her. She captured the Akuma, and then she released it as a butterfly once more. "Bye Bye, little butterfly." Then, she threw the chisel into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" The chisel became a cloud of ladybugs, which flew all around the city, repairing the damage that Midas inflicted. All of the gold-ified things all over the city turned back to normal, including Cat Noir and the plaza. The spiders and webbing disappeared as well. Finally, Midas transformed into a somewhat overweight and unconscious man in a business suit. Spyder and Cat Noir walked up to Ladybug. Spyder was clapping with all of his hands.

"Nice job Ladybug." He said. He smiled at her, and she felt her face heat up. Suddenly, she was very thankful for her mask.

"Yeah, thanks." Cat Noir replied, stretching. "Believe it or not, I don't think gold suits me." Spyder put a hand on Cat Noir's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "Midas got you pretty easily." Cat Noir choked.

"Y-yeah." He answered. "I guess I'm just tired. We pulled an all-nighter last night, and I didn't get any rest." Spyder made a sort of humming noise.

"Why don't you take a couple days off?" He finally said. "Ladybug and I can handle any Akumas that come around." Suddenly, a beeping noise came from the spider emblem on his chest. They looked, and found a single blinking light remaining. "Looks like I'm about to change back. See you guys around." And with that, Spyder leaped away.

"See ya, Spyder!" Ladybug called after him. Suddenly, there were two more beeping noises. She jumped. "Looks like we're about to change back as well." She started to run off, but she stopped and turned back to Cat Noir. "Spyder's right, Cat Noir. You should take a couple days and rest. We can handle things while you're gone." And then, she too ran of, leaving Cat Noir alone.

LINE BREAK

A couple hours later, Marinette was laying on her bed, reading a book, when Tikki flew in front of her face.

"I still cant believe that we found anther Miraculous user today." She said. "Especially the Necklace of the Spider." Marinette smiled and closed her book.

"What about the Necklace of the Spider?" She asked, cupping Tikki in her hands. "Why is that any more surprising than another Miraculous?"

"The Necklace of the Spider was lost decades ago." Tikki replied. "The Ladybug of the time fell in love with the Spyder from back then. When the Necklace disappeared, she drove herself insane searching for it." Marinette shivered.

"I hope that isn't an omen." She said. Tikki shrugged.

"I don't know. He seemed to make quite a first impression on you." Marinette blushed, and she waved the implications of Tikki said aside.

"Oh please." Was her reply. "You know I like Adrien." Tikki giggled.

"I know." She said. "But, you never know. You might come to like him. I think he likes you." Marinette smiled.

"Nah, he likes _you_." She said, poking Tikki lightly on the forehead. "You saw how quickly he snatched you up, and how easily he started fawning over you." She started petting her Kwami. "You _are_ pretty cute." Tikki giggled again.

"Thanks Marinette." She said, flying over to sit on her shoulder. "Now, I think you should get some sleep. Cat Noir may get a couple days off, but you can't." Marinette yawned, realizing how tired she was. She nodded, bid Tikki good night, and curled up on the bed to sleep.

LINE BREAK

Around the same time, Adrien was laying on his own bed.

"Who does that new guy think he is?" He said. "He shows up one time, and he tells me to get lost?"

"Well," Plagg interrupted. He was sitting on the floor next to the bed, eating a piece of Camembert, "he had a point. You've been getting more useless as the fights go on. You could use a break." He flew in front of Adrien's face. "Unless you think that Ladybug could fall for him while you're gone." Adrien scoffed and brushed Plagg aside.

"Like Ladybug could fall for anybody just like that." He said, snapping his fingers at 'that.' Plagg flew back into place.

"She _did_ seem really close to him." Plagg continued. "I know you saw the way she looked at him. If only she looked at you like that." Adrien threw a pillow at him.

"Shut up." He said. "It's not like I ever had a chance anyway. I'm going to bed." Then, having said that, he turned over and fell asleep, thoughts of Ladybug drifting through his head.


	3. Chapter 3

All throughout the next week, Spyder and Ladybug fought the akumatized victims without Cat Noir. As they battled the villains and thwarted Hawk Moth time and time again, they grew closer, just as Plagg predicted. They also spent more time together outside of the superhero scene: Cameron and Marinette did group projects together, studied together at the library, and even ate lunch together. One day, as Marinette was walking down the hallway after school, Alya pulled her aside, into a janitor closet.

"Alya?" Marinette asked once she got over her shock. "What are you doing?" Alya shushed her with a finger to her lips.

"Girl, I've just spent the entire week watching you get cuddly with Cameron. I thought you liked Adrien." She said. Marinette was about to reply, but Alya shushed her again. "Your half-baked explanations won't work on me. I don't think you like Adrien anymore." Marinette tried to stammer out some kind of response, but Alya shushed her again. "I'm not letting you screw up this time. You like him. You're going to go tell him, and I'm coming with you to make sure you do." She finally put her finger down, allowing Marinette to think about what her best friend had said. She thought back on all the time she spent with Cameron over the week, and about all the weird feelings she'd had since she met him. Then she remembered her conversation with Tikki a week ago, and how she had felt then. She felt a tingling in her stomach as she thought about all of Cameron's admirable qualities: he was kind and selfless, and he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. He was a good friend, always helping somebody out or giving advice. He was also really smart. He could recite every chemical on the periodic table in order flawlessly, he could tell you anything you wanted to know about the processes of several governments, and he could calculate even the most complicated calculations with ease. Plus, he was pretty cute. Marinette realized that Alya was right, and she was utterly dumbfounded. How had she developed feelings for Cameron without realizing? And over the course of a single week? That was impossible! But it was true. She looked at Alya, who was watching her expectantly.

"But what if he doesn't feel the same?" Was what she finally decided to ask. Alya scoffed and pushed Marinette out the door.

"Don't even try to give me that line." She said. "You know that every time somebody says that, the other person always feels the same way. You'll be fine girl."

"Why are you so eager to see me get together with Cameron?" Marinette asked, stopping Alya right outside the janitor closet. Alya just flicked her on the head lightly.

"Duh." She replied. "I watched you crush hopelessly on Adrien _forever_ , but you didn't do anything about it. It was heartbreaking, watching you agonize over that." She waved her finger. "Besides, let's be honest. Adrien probably didn't even like you like that in the first place." Marinette gasped and put her hands to her mouth. Alya took Marinette's hands gently in her own. "But I know for a fact that Cameron does. I just want you to be happy, girl. I don't want this opportunity to pass you by." Marinette was speechless, and she let Alya drag her down the hallway. After a couple minutes, she found herself standing in front of a door in the courtyard. Alya was gone. She guessed she was supposed to knock on the door, so she went to do so. Before she could touch the door, she heard a voice from the other side. It sounded like Cameron. She leaned in closer to hear.

"Would you relax?" The voice said. "I've got this. I just need more time." There was a pause, and then Cameron's voice returned, angrier. "Since when has brute force ever gotten you the results you wanted? Your way failed! Now we do this my way. I'm almost there. Subtlety is the only way to get what you want, and subtlety takes time. You'll get your results in due time, just be patient." There was another pause, then suddenly Cameron's voice returned, almost at a shout. "You gave me this job, so I'll do it my way! If you don't like it, then why don't you do the job yourself!?" Marinette flinched and knocked on the door as soon as she recovered. There was a choking sound, and Marinette opened the door slowly. Standing in front of her, holding a phone in front of himself, was Cameron, with a mixture of surprise and anger. Marinette flinched. Cameron's face lost its negative expression, and he put his phone in his jacket pocket. "Hey Marinette."

"Who were you talking to?" Marinette asked tentatively. Cameron looked confused for a second, before pulling his phone back out with a look of recognition.

"Oh, you heard that?" He asked absently. Marinette nodded. "That was my boss. There's a certain project he wants me to finish, but we have a difference of opinion about the best way to do it. It's nothing new."

"But, can't he just fire you and find somebody new?" Marinette asked. Cameron shook his head and pocketed his phone again.

"If there _was_ anybody else, he wouldn't have hired me in the first place." He said sadly. "I was only hired because nobody else was available."

"I've never heard you yell at someone like that." Marinette said. "It was kind of scary." Cameron smiled, and ruffled Marinette's hair.

"Sorry, Marinette." He apologized. "I didn't think anybody was listening. I confess that I actually hate my boss quite a bit. I only took the job because I needed something that my boss can provide."

"Like what?" She asked him, silently thrilling at the contact he maintained with her head. Since she had accepted the fact that she had come to like him (unlikely as it seemed), she had become apprehensive about meeting with him. This small contact reassured her.

"No matter." Cameron replied. He removed his hand, witch caused Marinette to feel a feeling of emptiness. "Did you want to talk to me about something?" Marinette nodded.

"Can we take a walk?" Marinette asked. "There's something I need to tell you."

LINE BREAK

"So... you like me?" Cameron asked in shock. He and Marinette were standing near the top of the Eiffel Tower, looking out over the city. They had transformed into their superhero guises to get up there in a flash, before transforming back to have their conversation. The sun was starting to go down, making the entire scene resemble the climax of a romance movie. Marinette nodded silently in response to Cameron's question. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, to see the look of revulsion she knew would be on his face. After all, who would ever like her? Once the silence had become unbearable, she was ready to leave, but when she tried to excuse herself, she found herself bound in place by Cameron's arm wrapped around her shoulders. She looked over in surprise, only to see Cameron smiling at her.

"Why are you smiling?" She asked, genuinely confused. Cameron's smile only grew.

"Alya put you up to this, didn't she?" He asked. Marinette was too dumbfounded to speak, but Cameron took her silence as a yes. "I let it slip in a conversation that I may have had feelings for a certain blue-haired girl in our class, and she completely lost her shit." His smile threatened to split his face apart. "And what do I find but that same blue-haired girl asking me out. Coincidence? I think not." Marinette's eyes widened.

"S-so, does that mean-" She started, but she was interrupted when Cameron leaned over and kissed her. Marinette felt like her heart had stopped beating, and she made a whimpering noise. After what felt like an eternity, Cameron finally pulled away.

"If you still want to give me a chance, then I'm all yours." He whispered, and Marinette smiled widely.

LINE BREAK

Marinette skipped up to her room a couple hours later, humming happily. Once she and Cameron decided to start dating, they had spent the next few hours just strolling around Paris, hanging out and having a wonderful time. Marinette had never had so much fun in her life. Tikki flew out from Marinette's bag, giggling at her friend's behavior.

"You look really happy, Marinette." She said. "I wonder why." Marinette blushed.

"Hush, you." She said. She flopped down on her bed, faceplanting her pillow. "I still don't understand how it could have happened so fast." She whispered into the cloth covering her face. "It's almost like a dream."

"But it's real." Tikki said, landing on Marinette's shoulder. "And it's happening to _you_. You deserve it, after all the good you've done for everybody else." Marinette turned over, so that she and Tikki were laying on the bed next to each other.

"But I could only do those things because you're here." She replied. "Without you, I'd be useless." Tikki flew up and hovered in front of Marinette's face.

"That's not true." She insisted. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're the chosen one." Marinette rolled her eyes.

"So you've told me." She said. "But you won't tell me why." Tikki shook her head.

"It isn't time yet." She said. "I'll tell you when the time is right. But for now, you need sleep." Marinette sighed, and got ready for bed.


	4. Chapter 4

It's been a week since Marinette and Cameron started dating, and two weeks since Cat Noir mysteriously disappeared. At first, Adrien had tried to act as Cat Noir, regardless of what Spyder had said. However, every time he was about to transform, he found that Ladybug and Spyder had already defeated the villain. He would then go home, dejected. After four days of this cycle, he had come to the conclusion that he wasn't needed, and stopped trying to help. He had resigned himself to early retirement from hero work, but he couldn't bring himself to get rid of his ring. Contrary to appearances, he had grown quite fond of Plagg. At the same time as his existential crisis as Cat Noir, Adrien had watched his friend Marinette grow closer to the new kid in their class. He had always liked Marinette. She was nice, not to mention smart. She was nothing like Chloe. Thinking of his childhood 'friend' made Adrien scowl. The truth of the matter was that he and Chloe had never been friends, but Chloe likes to pretend that they were to leech off of his popularity. Adrien was very aware of this, but he did nothing simply because what he told Nino on his first day was true: He had never actually had friends. Since Chloe was at least pretending, he figured he may as well take advantage of the opportunity. At least, that was his line of reasoning before he met Marinette. Ever since he gave her his umbrella and told her about his life, he had begun to feel what it was like to actually have a friend. However, for some reason, every time she was around him, she starts acting funny. He couldn't quite understand that, but since it occurred regularly, he didn't make such a big deal of it. Then she and Cameron started dating, and he saw her less and less. Her absence left an unpleasant feeling of emptiness in his chest, one which he couldn't explain. Plagg had suggested that he had fallen for his blue-haired friend, but Adrien had brushed it off immediately.

"I can't have fallen for Marinette." Adrien had said. "I love Ladybug. You know that."

"But what if Marinette _is_ Ladybug?" Plagg had said. Adrien had scoffed then, but as he walked out of the school, he began to wonder. Ladybug had the same blue hair as Marinette, and they were the same height, among other similarities. Also, there were quite a few coincidences that made lots of sense if Marinette was Ladybug.

"Silence!" A voice called angrily, snapping Adrien out of his reverie. He looked around, and saw that he was right next to a door, which was slightly ajar. Out of instinct, he positioned himself so that he could see through the small crack of the door. What he saw was a person pacing, and it took a moment to realize that the person was Cameron. "I don't care how badly you want them. I've already told you, you _will_ get what you want. I just need time. As a matter of fact, if you didn't keep forcing me to take 'calls,' you might already have them." Once more out of instinct, Adrien pushed the door even wider open, in order to get a better view. He had to force himself not to gasp once he registered what he was seeing. Around Cameron's face was a glowing moth-like emblem. He was talking to himself, but Adrien knew very well who he was actually talking to. "I promise, Hawk Moth, if you actually let me do my work _correctly_ , then you will get your jewelry. Don't call me again until I get you the earrings. The next step is the most delicate. Do you understand?" There was a pause, and then the glowing emblem faded from around his face. Adrien set his face in a determinate expression, and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. Cameron's head snapped toward him at the sound.

"So, you're working for Hawk Moth?" Adrien asked. "You've been Akumatized?" Cameron stared at him for a moment, then grinned. He shook his head condescendingly.

"It isn't that simple, Adrien." He said. "I don't think you would ever understand what is happening here."

"I think I understand well enough." Adrien replied. "You want to take Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculouses." Cameron shook his head.

"Hawk Moth wants the miraculouses." He replied. "I want something else. But since we're on the subject of miraculouses, I'll be taking yours now, Cat Noir." Adrien's eyes widened. Before he could say anything, Cameron interrupted him. "Oh, I've known for awhile. I figured out Ladybug's identity on day one. It actually isn't that hard if you have a brain, or any form of mental capacity." Adrien was about to ask how he knew his identity, when he noticed he necklace around his neck. He had never noticed it before, but it was the exact same emblem that adorned Spyder's chest. Adrien suddenly realized something.

"Spyder and you showed up on the same day." He said quietly. Cameron nodded. Adrien mentally kicked himself for being so stupid. "I knew something was up. You're Spyder, aren't you?" Cameron's grin widened.

"Correct." He confirmed. "Congratulations. You figured out my secret identity." Adried was suddenly struck by another thought.

"Wait, if you are Spyder, does that mean that Ladybug is... Marinette?" He asked, almost dreading the answer. Cameron started clapping.

"With that statement, you have proven yourself smarter than literaly everybody else in this city." He said. "Yes, that's right. Marinette and Ladybug are one and the same."

"So, you've been getting close to Marinette in order to steal her miraculous." Adrien accused, to which Cameron shook his head.

"Oh no, Adrien." He said. "I won't steal her miraculous. By the time I'm done, she'll give it to me _willingly_." Adrien laughed.

"If you think she'll just hand over her miraculous, then you've got another thing coming." He said. He placed his hand on the doorknob behind him, without taking his eyes off of Cameron. "Once I tell Marinette what's going on, she'll never fall for your trap." Cameron began chuckling.

"You think she'll listen to you?" He asked incredulously. "You broke her heart." Adrien froze.

"What?" Cameron's grin threatened to split his face.

"Ever since she met you, she's had an _enormous_ crush on you." He explained. "I would even call it an obsession. But you never reciprocated. You were _oblivious_. Every day that you failed to notice her, her heart broke just a tiny bit more. It's because of you that I was able to take advantage of the situation." Adrien couldn't believe what he had heard. Ladybug was Marinette. Marinette had had a crush on him since they met. He broke her heart. He made the mistake of hesitating too long, and he only had time to curse himself one more time before Cameron lunged at him, and his world went black.


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette had been waiting for almost two hours, and was about to leave, when Cameron finally ran up to her. She was sitting at a table on the outside of a cafe, drinking a hot cocoa. After school had ended that day, Cameron had asked if Marinette wanted to got get dinner together, but then he had to excuse himself for something. He had told Marinette to wait for him at the cafe before running off. And so she had, but nearly two hours later, he still hadn't shown. Marinette should have felt angry or annoyed for being forced to wait for so long, but she only felt relief when she saw him running towards her own the street.

"I'm sorry that it took so long." He said when he arrived. "I had something work-related to do." Marinette nodded in understanding. Naturally, his jerk of a boss was responsible for his tardiness. It made perfect sense now. She smiled at him.

"It's fine, I understand." She said. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"What?" He asked. "What do you mean?" Marinette giggled.

"Well, when you take me out to dinner, you normally want to talk about something." She said. Cameron shook his head.

"Well, not this time." He told her, before wrapping her up in a hug. "I just wanna spend some time with you. Don't you?" Marinette giggled again.

"Of course." She said. Tikki, who was resting in Marinette's bag, smiled at the tone in her friend's voice.

LINE BREAK

A couple hours later, Cameron and Marinette walked up to Marinette's room. After dinner, they had walked around Paris for a couple hours, and now, Marinette has brought him home.

"I need to take a shower." She said once they were in her room. "I'll only be a couple minutes." Se then grabbed a new set of clothes, and was about to leave when Cameron stopped her.

"You're going to wear your earrings in the shower?" He asked her. She put her hand to her earrings.

"Well, I... I just-" She stuttered out, but she was interrupted when Cameron held out his hand.

"I can hold onto them for you." He said. Marinette hesitated, until Tikki flew out of her bag.

"It's okay, Marinette." She told her friend. "I trust him. And besides, it's only for a couple minutes." After another pause, Marinette relented.

"Alright." She conceded. "See you in a little bit, Tikki." And, saying that, she took off her earrings, and Tikki disappeared in a flash of light. Marinette handed him her earrings, smiling shyly. Then, wordlessly, she left to take her shower. What she failed to notice was a viscous, evil smirk donning Cameron's face.

LINE BREAK

Marinette had been in the shower for a short while, when she heard Cameron calling to her.

"Sorry Marinette, but I have to go." He called. "I got a call from work. Your earrings are on your desk."

"Alright." Marinette called back, fighting down disappointment. "See you tomorrow."

"See ya." And then he was gone. Marinette sighed. She knew his work was important to him, but she still wished that he didn't need to work so often. After she finished taking her shower, and put on her new clothes, she made her way to the kitchen, where she grabbed some food. After getting a snack, she was about to head back up to her room, when someone knocked on the front door. She felt a rush of happiness, thinking it was Cameron.

"I got it." She called out. She went to the door, and when she opened it, she was surprised to see that instead of her boyfriend, she found Adrien on her doorstep. He looked terrible. His clothes were torn, he had cuts and bruises all over his body, and one of his eyes was black and swollen shut. He was panting heavily, as if he had run all the way there. Upon seeing him, Marinette gasped. "Adrien? What happened to you?"

"I need to talk to you." He said, ignoring her question. "It can't wait. It's important. It's about Ladybug and Cat Noir." Marinette hesitated for a moment, and then ushered him inside and up to her room. Once she and Adrien were up in her room, she set Adrien on her bed, and went back down to get a first-aid kit. When she returned, she began tending to his wounds.

"What happened to you?" She asked. "Why are you so beat up?"

"Cameron did this to me earlier today." He said quietly. Marinette froze.

"He couldn't have." She refuted. "He had-"

"Work?" Adrien finished. Marinette nodded. "His 'work' is stealing the miraculouses. He's working for Hawk Moth." Marinette had to resist the urge to slap him.

"How could you say something like that!?" She hissed. "There is no possible way that Cameron could be working for Hawk Moth!" Adrien weakly grabbed her arm.

"I overheard him talking to Hawk Moth." He insisted. "He's been akumatized all along. Ever since he met you. He's been getting close to you so he can take your earrings. When he found me eavesdropping, he attacked me and took my ring." Marinette took a minute to register what Adrien had said. When she did, her eyes widened in shock.

"Cat Noir?" She whispered. Adrien nodded.

"At your service, milady." He said, before chuckling weakly. Then, Marinette narrowed her eyes.

"How can I be sure that you're telling the truth?" She asked suspiciously. "You and Chloe have been friends for years. You two are messing with me, aren't you?" Then, a thought occurred to her. "You knew, didn't you? You knew that I had a crush on you. Chloe knew it too."

"Marinette-"

"You've been messing with me all along!" She cried, enraged. "You knew I liked you, and you took advantage of me! And, now that I'm finally over you, you can't stand to see me with somebody else! You're jealous of Cameron, aren't you?" Adrien propped himself up on his arms.

"If you don't believe me, then where are your earrings?" He asked. Marinette scowled. Normally, she would have argued against the accusation of her being Ladybug, but anger clouded her reason. She stomped over to her desk, where Cameron had said he put her earrings. She found them sitting there, gleaming in the light. She snatched them up, and presented them to Adrien.

"Here they are." She huffed. "Perfectly fine."

"Then transform." Adrien said. Marinette angrily put the earrings on. Tikki didn't appear, but Marinette was too angry to notice either way.

"Tikki, spots on." She said. She waited for the transformation to begin, but nothing happened. She looked around, but Tikki wasn't there. "Tikki?"

"Do you believe me yet?" Adrien asked. Marinette whirled on him.

"What did you do with Tikki!?" She hissed.

"I'm guessing that's your Kwami." Adrien replied. "Mine's name is Plagg. My guess is Cameron stole your earrings and left these fakes as replacements to throw you off." Marinette couldn't believe what she was hearing. She took out her phone, and pulled up Cameron's number. She attempted to call her boyfriend, but after two minutes of ringing, he failed to pick up the phone. She hung up, and collapsed to her knees. She put her head in her hands, and started sobbing.

"It can't be true." She sobbed out. "It can't be. He's too nice to be working for Hawk Moth. He can't be." Adrien, with an effort, managed to get himself off of the bed, and down on the floor next to Marinette. He tried to hug her, but she recoiled away from him. "Don't touch me!" She cried out. "This is all your fault! You should have stopped him! Because of you, Tikki is gone, and Cameron is being tricked by Hawk Moth. You're useless!"

"Marinette, please try to think clearly." Adrien begged her. "I don't know how he did it, but Cameron has been messing with your mind. Please, try to see past the lies."

"He never lied to me." She whispered, tears streaming down her face. "He was always so sweet and honest. It can't be true."

"Marinette," Adried pushed gently, "he was using you. He was manipulating your emotions. I'm sorry. This must be really hard to accept. But please, you have to believe me. If we don't do something, then Hawk Moth will get ahold of our miraculouses, and then everybody loses." Marinette looked at him, her eyes puffy and red.

"How can I believe you?" She said quietly. "I finally found someone who likes me as much as I like him. No matter how hard I tried, you wouldn't notice me. But Cameron noticed. He saw me." Adrien cautiously put his arms around her again. This time, she didn't recoil from him. In fact, she leaned into his embrace, her shaking form longing for a friendly presence.

"I'm so, so sorry Marinette." Adrien told her. "I should never have taken you for granted. You were my first friend, and I was so happy about that, but I was oblivious. I was too caught up in somebody else, only to find out that that somebody was you all along. I never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry." They sat there, in silence, for a good couple minutes. Finally, Marinette spoke.

"What are we going to do?" She asked. Her voice was tired, and she was congested from crying. "What can we do without our miraculouses?"

"I don't know." Adrien admitted. "But I know we need to do something. There must be someone who can help us." Suddenly, Marinette jolted, as if she had been electrocuted.

"I think there is someone who can help us." She said. She stood up, and helped Adrien to stand as well. "Come on, we have a healer to see."


	6. Chapter 6

Master Fu was meditating when Marinette and Adrien arrived. They stumbled through the door, Marinette supporting Adrien's weight.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but it's an emergency." Marinette said. Then, before anything else could happen, she explained their situation. As she was talking, Wayzz flew out and flew by her side. Once she was done explaining, Master Fu began stroking his goatee thoughtfully.

"So, Hawk Moth has your miraculouses?" He asked them. Marinette nodded.

"If he doesn't have them yet, he will have them soon." She said. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault." She put her head in her hands again. "Looking after Tikki was my responsibility, and I failed."

"You got that right." Another voice sounded. Everybody turned toward the source of the sound, to find Cameron leaning against the doorframe. Tikki and Phoo hovered in front of him. Upon seeing her friend, Marinette gasped.

"Tikki, are you alright?" She asked. The Kwami shook her head.

"He has my miraculous, so I have to do what he tells me to." She said. "He made me lead him here."

"Where's Plagg?" Adrien asked harshly. Cameron took out the ring, and tossed it between his hands.

"Plagg annoys me, so he's taking a time out inside the ring." Cameron replied, slipping the ring back into his pocket. Then, he pointed to the earrings adorning his ears. "I think I pull off earrings rather nicely, don't you?" Marinette began to tear up.

"Why Cameron?" She asked him tearfully. "Why are you doing this? Why are you working for Hawk Moth?" Cameron cocked his head.

"You know Marinette, you are one of the most idiotic people I have ever met." He said. Marinette gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands. "You were obsessed with this guy _forever_ , but you got over him in the course of a week? Not only that, but you _fell in love_ with someone else that same week? And you never suspected anything _at all_!?" He chuckled and shook his head. "God, you really are stupid. Besides, who would ever want you? The one thing you manage to do well, you can only do because of her." He pointed to Tikki, who also looked like she was about to cry. "Now that you've _given_ her to me, you don't have any worth at all."

"Shut your mouth!" Adrien shouted as forcefully as he could. He struggled to stand up, but he managed to do so. "Marinette is a wonderful person! You don't deserve to know her! You don't deserve any form of kindness from her. And she certainly deserves better than you." Marinette looked up at him in shock, but before she could do anything, Master Fu placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder.

"I knew I made the correct decision when I gave you the Ring of the Black Cat." He said. "But now, you should stand aside."

"Master, what are you doing?" Wayzz asked. Master Fu waved him over, and Wayzz flew to his side obediently.

"I think I have enough in me for one more transformation." Master Fu said. "Let's use it wisely." Cameron chuckled.

"You're going to fight me?" He asked. "You won't win." He was about to transform, when a purple moth emblem flashed around his face. Upon seeing that, Marinette gasped again, and she flinched farther away from him.

"He really has been akumatized." She whispered. However, everybody's attention was focused on the sight in front of them. Cameron was clutching his head, as if he ha a bad headache.

"Damn it Hawk Moth, I have them." He said to himself, though everybody knew he was talking to Hawk Moth. "Just give me a second." He seemed to be in even greater pain. He collapsed on the ground, still clutching his head. "I swear to god, you will pay for this." He hissed out. Tikki, seeing them just standing there, called out to them.

"Now's your chance!" She called. "While he's distracted!"

"SILENCE!" Cameron shouted. Immediately, Tikki fell silent. Cameron groaned for a minute, before shouting once again. "FINE, you win!" The glowing faded, and Cameron sighed in relief. He stood, removing his hands from his head as he did so. "Well, sorry that I can't beat you up, old man. My boss wants his stupid jewelry, and so I bid you good day." He bowed sarcastically, and then he bolted.

"Hey!" Adrien called out, but Master Fu held him back. "What are you doing!? He's going to give our miraculouses to Hawk Moth." Master Fu shook his head.

"He has already gotten too far ahead of us." He said. "Unless we can figure out where Hawk Moth is, we won't be able to stop him." Wayzz flew in front of Master Fu urgently.

"Master, I can sense the power of the moth and spider miraculouses." He said. "They form a pair, much like the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses. The closer they are together, the stronger each becomes." Master Fu nodded, and turned to the two teenagers.

"We have a way of locating Hawk Moth." He said. "Are you two ready to confront him?" Both of them nodded, and Master Fu turned back to his Kwami. "Wayzz, lead the way."

LINE BREAK

They came to a stop in the last place Adrien expected.

"This is my house." He said in disbelief. "But, why would Hawk Moth be at my house?" Marinette placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Adrien, with everything that's happened, I think we know why." She said gently. Adrien clenched his fists.

"We won't know for sure until we find Hawk Moth." He said. "But, yeah. I know." With that, he pushed through the gate.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I don't have any knowledge of where Hawk Moth's little observatory thing is or how to get there, so I skipped right to there. Nothing important would have happened anyway. I also won't go into much detail describing the space. Just imagine a big open space, and you'll be good. Also, I have now seen season 2 up until episode 5. So, spoiler alert.**

LINE BREAK

When the four of them arrived, the sight they found made even Master Fu's blood run cold. What they saw was Cameron standing over the beaten form of Gabriel Agreste, Adrien's dad, holding a moth-shaped broach aloft. He continuously stomped on the man, causing an undignified whimper to emit from Gabriel each time he was struck.

"This is for all those times you caused me pain, just because you could." He snarled out, before stomping on Gabriel's face. "This is for screwing with me _every. Single. Day._ " Thrice upon the face. "And _this_ is for stealing Nooroo from me!" He leaned down, picked Gabriel up effortlessly, and threw him through the window, causing it to shatter.

"Dad!" Adrien called out, but it was futile. Gabriel Agreste fell through the opening and was gone. Adrien, stunned, turned to Cameron. "What did you just do?" Cameron turned to them, smiling.

"You should thank me, Cat Noir." He said. "I just put an end to your greatest enemy." He placed the broach on his shirt. It was then that Adrien, Marinette, Master Fu, and Wayzz noticed something else. Tikki, Phoo, Plagg, and Nooroo were flying behind Cameron silently, watching them.

Cameron, why are you doing all of this" Marinette pleaded. "Just tell me, please!" Cameron paused for a bit, then nodded, his smile never leaving his face.

"Sure, I can tell you, now that it doesn't matter either way." He said. "I guess you deserve to know, anyway." He gesture behind himself, at the four Kwamis floating behind him. "When I was growing up in Beijing, my mother took up fortune telling as her occupation. She wasn't very good, and so we didn't have very good living conditions most of the time. But my mother believed in the authenticity of charms. One day, while she was searching in the market, she found this broach." He gestured to the broach on his lapel. "She gave it to me for my fifth birthday. That's how I met Nooroo. He told me all about Kwamis and Miraculouses, and we became friends very fast. I came to see Nooroo as something akin to my brother, or even the other half to my soul." He clenched his hands, and scowled. "But then, just eight years later, my mom was murdered, and the broach was stolen. I never saw Nooroo again." He made an obvious effort to unclench his hands, but his nails left red crescents behind on his palms. "Hawk Moth killed my mother and stole my best friend away from me. So I made it my mission to hunt down Hawk Moth, and rescue Nooroo. Then, I found the Necklace of the Spider in an allyway one day, similarly to how my mother found the broach. That was how I met Phoo. It was then that I decided to use Phoo to help me get Nooroo back from Hawk Moth. Then, when Hawk Moth began using Nooroo, Phoo felt his power, and I moved here. When I arrived, Hawk Moth must have sensed my anger. He akumatized me, and he gave me the power to manipulate others." Cameron smirked. "I would only come to thank him for that later. Some people were easier to control than others. For example, Alya." Marinette gasped, remembering how weird her friend had been acting the day she started dating Cameron. Cameron nodded, seeing her expression. "I even tricked Tikki into convincing you to give me your earrings. I was going to take Wayzz before I came here, but Hawk Moth was so damn impatient. But now, I have Nooroo, I've taken my revenge on Hawk Moth, and the three of you have come to me willingly."

"But, if you have what you want, then what are you doing?" Adrien asked. Cameron shook his head.

"I may have recovered Nooroo, but there is no guarantee that the same thing can't happen again." He said. "Besides, humanity as a whole is so corrupt and evil that it enabled Hawk Moth to become as powerful as he did. So, I'm going to purge this world of the despicable form humanity has taken. I'm going to make a world safe for the Kwamis to live in, without fear of being abused by people like Hawk Moth."

"It seems that you're the only one abusing Kwamis around here." Adrien said. Cameron shook his head.

"Oh, I'm not abusing them." He said. "I just can't risk you having them just yet. Trust me, once you're out of the way, they'll be well cared for." Master Fu stepped forward, Wayzz at his side.

"You will not use the Miraculouses for evil." He said. He looked behind himself, at the two teenagers that he had entrusted the miraculouses to, only a short time ago. "Stay back, you two." He said. Then, he raised his arm. "Time to transform!" He began his pose, ending on one leg, his remaining leg slightly bent. ( **AN: Like the Karate Kid pose** ) He felt his back crack, but he powered through the pain. "Wayzz! Shields up!" Immediately, Wayzz was sucked into the bracelet, and Master Fu began to transform. He became clad in a green bodysuit, and a shell grew from his back. A green mask resembling a turtle's face appeared over his face. He hunched over his walking stick, his back bowed under the weight of the shell. Adrien and Marinette could only stare as the old man straightened, and then held the cane as if it were a baseball bat. Cameron laughed.

"Oh, this is going to be fun." He said. He spread his arms. "Phoo! Webbing: Spin!" Withing a few seconds, Spyder was standing where Cameron was before. He spread his six arms in a strange stance. "Ready when you are, old man." And then, they rushed each other. Adrien and Marinette were immediately stunned. They knew Spyder was good, but until this moment, they had ever understood how good. He moved like a hurricane, his six arms a violet blur. On the other hand, Master Fu was slower, but his strikes were far more deliberate. He managed to deflect most of Spyder's attacks off of his shell, and the ones he couldn't deflect didn't seem to bother him at all. He struck Spyder deliberately, and each invariably hit their target. After the flurry ended, Spyder backed away, panting, but master Fu was perfectly fine. Master Fu planted his walking stick into the floor.

"Give it up kid." He said. "The miraculouses will never be used for evil." Spyder chuckled.

"Then how do you explain Hawk Moth?" He said. "He was abusing Nooroo for months! Where were you then!?" He brought all of his arms together. Marinette cried out to Master Fu.

"Don't let him use his power!" She screamed. Spyder cackled evilly.

"Too late Marinette!" He cried in glee. Master Fu ran towards him, but his shell made it hard to move fast. Spyder grinned wickedly. "Try this on for size old man. ARACHNOPHOBIA!" As the dark orb appeared, Spyder spread his arms. However, instead of separating into six smaller orbs like last time, the orb expanded and hung in place. Just as Master Fu was about to reach Spyder, the arachnid villain smashed his hands together on the orb, which exploded in a wave of darkness that washed over everything in the room. Everywhere it passed, the darkness dissolved into a carpet of spiders. Instantaneously, every open surface in the room was absolutely covered in spiders. Unfortunately, that included Marinette, Adrien, Master Fu, and the Kwamis. Seeing her entire body covered in a crawling black mass of arachnids, Marinette screamed, and began desperately swatting them off of her as fast as she could. When she finally managed to clear herself of spiders, she had a moment of understanding for Kim's fear of spiders. 'Arachnophobia' was the perfect name for that move. She would never be able to look at a spider without remembering this day. The endless blackness swarmed over Master Fu in a tremendous mass, and Marinette had to look away.

"Harepin turn!" Fu's voice came from beneath a mountain of spiders. Suddenly, there was a green flash, and several hundred thousand spiders were vaporized. A green light streaked throughout the room, vaporizing spiders as it ran them down. Within a minute, most of the spiders had been crushed or otherwise destroyed, and the green streak came to a halt, revealing it to be Master Fu.

"How did you do that?" Adrien asked in awe. Master Fu smirked.

"Have you ever heard the story of the tortoise and the hare?" He said sagely. "The turtle miraculous gives its holder the ability to gain a severe boost in speed. However, the boost only lasts as long as you remain in motion. I'll have to settle this in less than five minutes." There was a ringing laughter, and Spyder stood up shakily (having been pummeled to the ground by Fu during his speed boost).

"You won't last anywhere near that long." He hissed out. "I'll destroy you long before that. Webbing: Unravel." Immediately, Phoo flew out of the spider emblem, and Spider became Cameron again. Cameron caught Phoo gently as he fell toward the ground. "Tikki, Plagg, take Phoo to the kitchen downstairs and get him something to eat." The two before mentioned Kwamis (reluctantly) obeyed, and together, they silently flew Phoo out of the room. Cameron snarled in rage, and Marinette's heart broke just a little bit more. "I'll make you pay." He spread is arms again. "Nooroo. Dark Wings Rise." Nooroo flew into the brooch Cameron was wearing, and Cameron transformed into Hawk Moth (complete with cane and everything). Cameron ( **AN: hereafter** **known as Hawk Moth while in this form** ) studied himself momentarily, then scowled. "This disgusts me." He muttered. "How Hawk Moth perverted Nooroo's power. But, since the groundwork is there, I may as well take advantage of it." Then, a swarm of glowing white butterflies emerged from him, setting the room alight with an empty white. Hawk Moth waved his hands over the Akumas, and each of them became infused with darkness. "Fly out my Akumas!" He cried. "Reclaim those who you were forced to flee from. Loose their evils upon the world once more." Then, as commanded, every one of the butterflies flew out, and each sought out the person it used to inhabit.

LINE BREAK

Nino, who was arguing fiercely with his teacher about blowing bubbles in class, froze when the Akuma entered his body.

"Bubbler, it's time to come out of early retirement." The new Hawk Moth's voice echoed in his head. "I am returning your powers to you, do with them as you wish. And in return for this power, I want you to work for me." Nino grinned.

"Deal." He concented, bfore transforming into The Bubbler once again.

LINE BREAK

Aurore Beaureal sat, crying, on a park bench. The boy she liked had just majorly friendzoned her. Not only that, but he had rejected her in front of everybody in the TV studio, calling her worthless and ugly. She was so busy despairing, that she didn't notice the Akuma entering her body, until she heard a voice.

"Stormy Weather, as part of my welcoming campaign, I've decided to give you your powers back." The voice said. "Use them as you wish, but remember: you work for me."

"You got it." She agreed, and she transformed back into Stormy Weather.

LINE BREAK

Alya and Ivan were arguing with each other in front of the school. Alya didn't know why, but she had suddenly found herself very angry at Ivan, and he in turn felt the same. Suddenly, they both gasped as Akumas entered their bodies.

"Stoneheart. Lady WiFi." A voice spoke in their heads. "Instead of fighting amongst yourselves, I'll be returning your powers, so that you can fight with others as you wish. Just remember: You serve me now."

"Yes, Hawk Moth." They said in unison, before transforming into their respective villains.

LINE BREAK

Rose was furious. A pair of bratty nobodies had just insulted her prince! She couldn't allow anybody to talk about Prince Ali like that! Her murderous thoughts were interrupted by a calming voice in her head.

"Princess Fragrance, I can feel your anger from here." It said to her. "I'm going to return your powers to you. Now, act on your anger, but I want your cooperation in return."

"I'll do anything, my prince." Rose sang out, before transforming into Princess Fragrance.

LINE BREAK

Sabrina and Chloe were storming down the sidewalk, away from a fashion boutique. At least, Chloe was. Sabrina was kind of trailing behind.

"Ugh, how dare that shopkeeper refuse to serve me!" Chloe huffed out. "Who does he think I am? My Daddy is the Mayor of Paris!" Sabrina nodded emphatically.

"You're totally right Chloe." She said. "You deserve better." Just then, two Akumas flew around the corner, and entered their bodies.

"You deserve better, do you?" They heard in their heads. "Well then, Vanisher, Antibug, how about I give you your powers back? The only catch is that you will both work for me from now on." Chloe nodded, Sabrina not far behind.

"Oh, I totally accept." Chloe said, with Sabrina agreeing. Immediately, they both transformed into their respective villains.

LINE BREAK

Lila Rossi had just been kicked to the curb by yet another group of 'friends.' She had done the 'moral' thing this time, and always told the truth, but the results had been the same: nobody wanted her. Suddenly, and Akuma flew into her.

"When diplomacy fails, turn instead to your blade." An unfamiliar voice spoke to her. "Or, in your case Volpina, your flute. I'll give you your powers back, and I'll allow you to use them for whatever you want, but you will become my subordinate."

"I accept." She snarled out, her anger consuming her as she transformed into Volpina.

LINE BREAK

Kagami Tsurugi was walking down the sidewalk, trying not to cry. Her parents had just chewed her out, once again, for not being good enough. She knew she wasn't, but it still hurt to hear her parents tell it to her. She failed to notice the Akuma entering her body, until an unknown voice contacted her.

"I can feel your skill, Riposte." The voice told her. "I need someone like you at my side. In return for your undivided loyalty, I shall gift your powers back to you, and I'll even give you free reign to use them however you want."

"It's a pleasure to work with you." Kagami replied, transforming into Riposte.

LINE BREAK

Hawk Moth cackled with glee.

"A veritable army of villains is about to ravage Paris." He called. "And I'm the one pulling all the strings. YOU LOSE!"

"Not yet." Master Fu said. "I still have three minutes to put an end to your delusions." Suddenly, Hawk Moth was right in front of him, and Master Fu was on the ground, clutching the side of his face. Hawk Moth had just backhanded Master Fu with his cane at lightning speed.

"Hawk Moth was an idiot." Hawk Moth said. "He didn't even know that, once I started wearing both the Moth broach and the Spider Necklace, the more chaos and anarchy that my villains spread, the more powerful I become." Master Fu tried to get up, but Hawk Moth pinned him to the ground with his cane. "You won't be needing this." He leaned down, and plucked the bracelet off of Master Fu's wrist. As soon as the bracelet left his person, Master Fu transformed back into his normal form. He groaned, as if he was suddenly beset upon by intense pain. Hawk Moth picked him up with one hand, and threw him at Marinette with extraordinary force. She managed to catch him, but she was thrown into a wall. Adrien made to help her, while Hawk Moth's hysterical laughter echoed about the empty cavern. "What will you do now?" He asked them. "Your guardian has failed, you've both lost your miraculouses, your city is being razed to the ground as we speak." Suddenly, Marinette's phone lit up, and Lady WiFi emerged from it, holding the box that Master Fu kept hidden under his gramophone. Ignoring the trio, she handed the box to Hawk Moth. "And now, thanks to Lady Wifi, there is no possible way anyone can stop me." Just then, the wall behind the trio was ripped out, and Stoneheart bellowed in triumph. Master Fu coughed, and Marinette and Adrien huddled closer to him.

"Take it easy, sir." Marinette said. "You've been through a lot." Master Fu gripped the arms holding him weakly.

"You two must go." He whispered. "Escape this place. Find out how to defeat him. Only you two can save everybody." And then, he sighed and was still. Marinette could only stare at the corpse of Master Fu, until Adrien snapped her out of it.

"Marinette, we have to go." He whispered to her. She looked up at him, and in doing so, she saw that Hawk Moth was talking to Lady WiFi, and his back was turned. Stoneheart had disappeared. She nodded, and after gently placing Master Fu's body on the floor, they slipped quietly out the hole in the wall and ran off into the night.

LINE BREAK

 **AN: I only used these certain villains because I like them, and none of them has any power that could override the challenge of fighting an army of villains, like Reflekta or Darkblade. Thanks.**


	8. Chapter 8

It's been a week since Hawk Moth's takeover. Initially, there had been nothing but chaos. Several hundred lives were lost. People started to go into hiding. Akumatized villains paraded throughout the burning city unopposed. And the chaos was spreading. As the villains increased the radius of destruction, more and more Akumas emerged from the observatory of the Agreste mansion, which Hawk Moth had made into his headquarters. More Akumas would then lead to more villains, which would spread the chaos even further, and the cycle would repeat in an infinite regression. The situation was hopeless. Or, that's what Marinette thought as she hunched in the corner of her school's basement. The only other ones that were present were the remaining members of her class that hadn't been akumatized. Adrien, Alix, and Kim had left a little while ago, to go get supplies. None of them risked leaving the basement if they could help it, since the world outside was only becoming more dangerous by the day. Suddenly, the door at the far end of the basement opened in a hurry, and Adrien ran in with Marinette's parents. Together, Adrien and Marinette's father closed and locked the door. Once the door was secure, Adrien and Tom (Marinette's father) slumped to the floor, exhausted. Immediately, Marinette stood and ran over to them. She hugged her mom, and then her dad, almost desperately.

"Mom! Dad! I'm so glad you're safe!" She exclaimed. Sabine (Marinette's mom) patted her on the back gently, and Tom cradled her in his arms.

"Oh, there was nothing to worry about dear." Sabine told her daughter. "Your father is very dependable."

"Superdad, remember?" Tom said, chuckling weakly. Marinette laughed and threw her arms around Adrien.

"Thank you so much!" She said. "Thank you for keeping my parents safe."

"Um... not to put a damper on this reunion," Mylene interrupted, "but where are Alix and Kim?" Adrien looked to the ground.

"We ran into Stoneheart when we got to Mrinette's bakery." He said. "Kim and Alix tried to get some supplies while I escaped with Marinette's parents. Stoneheart crushed themm while they was inside the bakery. They're gone." Mylene gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Ivan did that?" She whispered out. Juleka hugged her.

"That... thing isn't Ivan. Not anymore." She said. Mylene just cried into her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Mylene." Sabine comforted her. "Ladybug can put him right and save us all." Juleka nodded.

"She's right Mylene." She agreed. "Remember when I was akumatized? Ladybug saved me."

"Not to mention myself as well." Max piped up. "I recall that did quite a bit of damage, but Ladybug managed to save the day."

"All of us have been saved by Ladybug." Nathaniel said. "Even you. This is no different." Hearing her classmates' faith in her alter-ego, Marinette was overcome with a sense of guilt. She let go of Adrien, and she slowly crumpled to the ground, sobbing into her hands. Everybody looked at her in surprise.

"Marinette? What's wrong?" Tom asked, moving to comfort his daughter. She simply shook her head.

"Ladybug can't help us anymore." She said. Tom looked at her curiously.

"Of course she can." He replied. "She always comes through." Marinette shook her head again.

"You don't understand." She moaned. "Tikki's gone. Ladybug can't help anymore."

"Tikki?" Juleka asked. "Who is that? And what do they have to do with Ladybug?" Marinette shook her head again.

"You wouldn't understand." She said. "None of you would."

"I have harbored a certain suspicion for a significant amount of time." Max said. "Various circumstances and coincidences line create several clues toward Ladybug's true identity. You are Ladybug, are you not?" Stunned, everybody (except for Adrien), stared at Marinette, who was still weeping into her hands. She nodded, not seeing the point of hiding her identity anymore.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed. "I'm sorry that I can't live up to your expectations. This is all my fault. I'm sorry."

"Wait." Sabine said. "Do you mean to tell me that my little girl has been Ladybug all this time?" Marinette nodded again. "But how?" Shakily, still sobbing, Marinette explained about Kwamis and miraculouses. By the time she was finished, she was leaning into her father's concerned embrace.

"I'm a failure." She moaned. "All of this started because I didn't have enough courage to ask out the boy I liked. Now Tikki's gone, Paris has been destroyed, and hundreds of people are dead. It's all because I'm weak and pathetic. I don't deserve to be Ladybug." She told everybody about how Cameron tricked her, and about how he had taken over the city. By the end, she was sobbing even more than she had been before. Adrien knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Marinette, look around." He said gently. "You've saved everybody here multiple times. You've helped all of our friends get over their worst problems, as both Ladybug _and_ Marinette. You're a _great_ hero."

"But you were always there, helping me." She whispered, just loud enough for Adrien and Tom to hear.

"And I'll be with you forever, bugaboo." He said, just a little bit louder. Nathaniel gasped.

"Wait. Adrien, does that mean..." He trailed off, but Adrien knew what he was going to ask. He nodded.

"Yeah, I was Cat Noir." He said. "My miraculous was stolen too." There was a silence following the revelations.

"If you could get your miraculouses back, then you could save the day again." Mylene said. "You could save Ivan and everybody else." Then, she looked downcast. "But, even if you got your powers back, it would take a miracle to fix what's already happened." Upon hearing that, Marinette's head snapped up. So did Adien's. They both stared at each other for a moment, coming to a realization.

"Cameron's been akumatized." Adrien said slowly. Marinette nodded.

"And it would take a miracle to fix everything." She replied. Then, together, as if an extraordinary thought had occurred to them, she spoke.

"The Miraculous Ladybug!"

Marinette suddenly stood up, gesturing excitedly, her old confidence returning swiftly. Adrien stood up with her, smiling.

"The Miraculous Ladybug is the most important power that Ladybug possesses." Marinette explained to everybody. "Once I use it, I can undo everything an Akuma has done. All the damage will disappear."

"But what if he hasn't used his Akuma powers to do the damage?" Mylene asked. "Most of the damage has been caused by other people. And what about the people that have been killed? Can you bring people back from the dead?" Marinette shook her head, smiling widely.

"You don't understand." She exclaimed. "The Miraculous Ladybug makes all damage disappear _as if it never happened_. So, if I can use it, it will be like he never stole our miraculouses in the first place. None of this chaos will have been able to happen to begin with!" Everybody was stunned.

"So, we can fix everything?" Juleka asked. Marinette nodded furiously.

"All I have to do is get my earrings back." She said. "Once that happens, I can fix everything." There was a pause, and Marinette seemed to deflate a little bit. "The challenge will be getting the earrings. Cameron, no he's Hawk Moth now, will have them on his person at all times. I'll need to find a way to trick him." Max stepped up.

"If that is the case, then I have an idea that may suffice." He said, pushing his glasses up. Everybody turned to him. He began to lay out his plan, and while he spoke, Marinette began to feel something that she hadn't felt in days: hope.

LINE BREAK

 **AN: So, I know that the 'Miraculous Ladybug' power probably doesn't work like the way I described it, but that's the way I've always interpreted it. Sorry if that 'bugs' anybody, but that's how I think it works. Thanks.**


	9. Chapter 9

It was getting close to sunset when Marinette, Adrien, and Tom snuck into the Agreste mansion. They had expected it to be heavily guarded, but there wasn't a single villain in sight. Or so they thought, once they made it past the entrance hall, they were ambushed by Lady WiFi and Antibug. Lady Wifi managed to freeze Tom in place, but not before he managed to beat Antibug almost into unconsciousness with his inhuman strength. Very quickly after that, she managed to freeze both Adrien and Marinette, and then she disappeared. A couple minutes later, She reappeared, and then Stoneheart followed a short time later. Using his immense power, he effortlessly picked up all three frozen captives, and marched them to the observatory, Lady WiFi and Antibug following close behind (Antibug was limping painfully). Once they arrived in the observatory, Stoneheart placed the captives on the floor, and then lumbered out of the hole in the wall. Once Stoneheart was gone, Lady WiFi released her captives, and they unfroze. The three collapsed onto the floor, the sudden release shocking them. Marinette looked around the room once she got over her surprise. The entire room was filled with glowing butterflies. The only other thing in the room was a black throne in the center of the room, upon which Hawk Moth sat. All of the Kwamis floated in the air behind the throne, even a couple Marinette didn't recognize: A dark blue one with what appeared to be peacock feathers, one that looked like a fox, and a furry yellow one with black stripes. Hawk Moth leaned forward on his cane.

"Well, well, well." He said, amused. "Look what we have here. Marinette, Adrien. I thought you two died days ago. Glad to see that I was wrong." He stood up. "Lady WiFi, are you ready to start the main event?" He asked the akumatized girl standing next to Marinette.

"Whenever you're ready, Sir." She said. Hawk Moth nodded.

"Then do it now." He said. Immediately, Lady WiFi used her phone to create a video icon, and then she sent out a large number of screens all over Paris. Instantly, the events happening within the observatory were being broadcast to the entire city. "I want everybody who still believes in Ladybug and Cat Noir to pay very close attention." Hawk Moth said into the camera. He gestured behind him. "Here are your heroes! Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste. I am going to kill both of them, and I will shatter whatever remains of your pathetic hopes." He turned back to his prisoners on the floor. "But, before I get my hands dirty, I've got quite a few subordinates who have been waiting for quite some time." He snapped his fingers, and every reakumatised villain (except for Stoneheart) entered the room, along with Marinette's remaining classmates, who were bound like prisoners. There was no sign of her mom. The villains threw their prisoners to the center of the room, next to Marinette and Adrien.

"Sorry Marinette." Max croaked out, his face covered in bruises and cuts. "They caught me immediately. They found the others. Your mom did not make it." Marinette's hands creeped up to cover her mouth, new tears falling from her eyes. She leaned into her dad, who had such a look of fury upon his face that Adrien recoiled away from him.

"Looks like we have even more people to watch you fail." Hawk Moth said. "Or to fail alongside you, as I'm sure they will choose to do." Even more Akumas flew into his hand. "I'm feeling generous, so I'll give you _something_ to defend yourselves with." And with that, he sent the Akumas flying toward the group. They entered the people effortlessly, healing every injury. The bindings on those who had them dissolved, and everybody stood up, infused with new energy. Hawk Moth raised his hand even higher, placing his middle finger and thumb together. "Now then, try to entertain everybody watching, if you would." Then, he snapped his fingers, and the villains charged.

LINE BREAK

A hooded figure, hunched over as if burdened by an enormous weight, shambled up to the Agreste mansion. Instead of heading inside the mansion, she crawled her way around the edge. Eventually, she found herself behind the building, where she found a small pile of crates. Beneath the hood of the cloak, the figure smiled.

LINE BREAK

Nobody could have predicted the utter devastation that Marinette's dad was wreaking in the numbers of the villains. With his already superhuman strength bolstered by the Akuma inside of him, he was effortlessly throwing everybody aside. Princess Fragrance, crying out in fear, aimed her perfume gun at him and fired. Unaffected by the gas, Tom grasped her head with one arm, and threw her through a wall as easily as if her were bowling a strike. He whirled about, smashing everything he could get his hands on, bellowing as if he was an enraged animal (which he essentially was). Antibug launched herself at him, but she was immediately pummeled into brutal unconsciousness. Unfazed by her weak action, he turned his sights toward Hawk Moth. Meanwhile, the rest of the good guys were having a much harder time. Adrien, his experience as Cat Noir aiding him, was squaring off singularly against the Bubbler. Marinette, her clumsiness vanishing as if she had become Ladybug once again, dodging Lady WiFi's attacks easily, dancing around her flute. Max found himself backed into a corner by Stormy Weather, who was brandishing her umbrella threateningly. Nathaniel was frozen in a block of ice next to him. Mylene and Juleka were desperately avoiding Riposte's sword swings. Their power boost didn't last long, and soon the good guys found themselves running out of energy.

"Nino, please. It's me, Adrien." Adrien called to his opponent. The Bubbler scowled.

"Dude, I'm the Bubbler now." He said. "I gotta do what Hawk Moth says." He swung his bubble sword at Adrien, who ducked underneath it.

"Since when do you take orders from anybody?" Adrien replied. "Wasn't your thing that kids needed to be free from oppressive adults?"

"So what?" Bubbler replied. Their fight had come to a pause. "Hawk Moth is offering freedom to everybody in the world." Adrien shook his head.

"No, he isn't." He countered. "He wants to dominate the world. He doesn't care about freedom! Just look, he's already enslaved you and Alya." At the mention of Alya's name, the Bubbler's face twitched.

"Alya?" He whispered slowly. Adrien nodded.

"Yes. Alya. Your girlfriend. Don't tell me you don't remember her." A look of indecision flashed across the Bubbler's face. He looked over at Lady WiFi, who appeared to be having her own conversation with Marinette.

"I remember." He said lowly. Just then, Lady WiFi looked over at him, and their eyes met. Then, as if getting shocked with electricity, he jolted. "I remember!"

LINE BREAK

At the same time that Adrien as trying to talk the Bubbler down, Marinette was having her own conversation with Lady WiFi.

"Alya, don't you remember me?" She cried out, dodging pause icons. ""It's me! Marinette! Your best friend." Lady WiFi scowled.

"I don't have any friends." She said. "Hawk Moth doesn't think too highly of other allegiances." She threw out a barrage of pause icons, each of which Marinette dodged, though she became very winded.

"Since when does Hawk Moth decide if you can have friends." She said, weaving between icons. "Didn't you want to expose the truth for everybody, so that everybody could benefit? What happened to that?"

"Hawk Moth is going to create a world without lies." Lady WiFi growled out, flinging more Icons Marinette's way.

"Hawk Moth has been lying _to_ you." She panted out, just barely avoiding being gazed by a pause icon. "He doesn't care about truth or justice! The only thing he wants is control. He's just using you. You and Nino." At the sound of Nino's name, Lady WiFi froze.

"Nino?" She repeated, frowning. "That name is familiar." Marinette nodded.

"Remember?" She prodded. "Nino, your boyfriend." Lady WiFi's eyes widened. She looked over her shoulder, only to see the Bubbler looking back at her. She jolted, as if she were being shocked with electricity.

"I remember!" She cried.

LINE BREAK

"I love him/her!"

The shout rang throughout the room, and all action stopped. Everybody looked to the two villains staring at each other. Then, simultaneously, both of them crumpled to the floor, screaming. Hawk Moth stood up.

"I think that's enough." He said. Glowing Moth emblems appeared on the two villains' faces. "Remember our deal." He said. "You serve me now." Then, amid the painful screaming, the two villains did something that make Hawk Moth's eyes widen in shock.

"I reject this Akuma!"

Immediately, they became webbed with glowing cracks, and they exploded in a wave of darkness. A pair of Akumas flew out of their prone, now-human bodies, and burst into flames. The screens all around the city fizzled and died.

"Alya!" Marinette cried, throwing herself at her friend.

"Nino!" Adrien cried out, kneeling at his friend's side. Suddenly, taking advantage of the stunned silence, Tom rushed Hawk Moth, who was too slow to react. Tom engulfed him in a mighty bear hug, and squeezed. The remaining villains rushed him, but he launched Hawk Moth into the throne, and removed the black ring from around his finger. Just before the villains made it to him, he threw the ring to Adrien.

"Adrien, catch!" He called.

"Stop him!" Hawk Moth hissed out, but it was too late. Adrien caught the ring, and put it on.

"Plagg, claws out!" He called, posing. Oddly eager, Plagg shot toward his ring, and Adrien transformed into Cat Noir. Hawk Moth roared in outrage. Max, whose lower half was encased in ice, looked at his watch. Seeing the time, his eyes widened.

"Marinette!" He cried out. "Get everybody out of here now." Marinette, confused looked over at Max, who was furiously trying to free himself from the ice.

"What!" She called. Max pointed to the hole in the wall.

"The hole!" He replied. "Get everybody out through that hole! You only have a couple seconds." Dimly, Marinette was aware of the others already climbing out through the hole, but she struggled trying to lift Alya. Suddenly, her dad was there, holding Nino in one arm. He picked up Alya with the other arm, and then he, Marinette, and Cat Noir ran for the hole. They leaped out, disregarding the drop to the lawn.

The last thing they heard from Hawk Moth was a series of chants: "Phoo, Webbing: Spin! Tikki: Spots On! Wayzz: Shields Up! Duusu: Fan Your Feathers! Pollen: Stinger Out! Trixx: The Hunt Is On!" Then, before anything could happen, the room exploded.


	10. Chapter 10

Marinete, Cat Noir, and Tom were thrown outward, toward the ground. Cat Noir used his staff to halt his fall, like a pole-vaulter, and he caught Marinette before she could fall too much farther. Tom, however, swung around so that he was shielding the two unconscious children, and crashed into the lawn himself. As they had fell, the building behind them was awash with amber flames. The explosion completely destroyed the dome, as well as the floor of the room they had just escaped from, and now the entire are was nothing but a sea of fire. Tom carefully rose, and quickly made his way to where everybody else was waiting, about a half-block away. Once there, he gently laid his two charges on the ground, and looked up at the others.

"What was that?" He asked the children. "That explosion. What happened?"

"Max's plan." Juleka said hoarsely. She had a large, bleeding cut along the side of her face.

"But I thought Max's plan failed when they caught you guys?" Marinette said. She was clinging to Cat Noir, both of whom were looking rather shaken. Juleka shook her head.

"Max wanted them to catch us." Mylene said. "He wanted as many people there with you as possible, to give you the best chance of success. Most importantly, he wanted to get Marinette's dad angry." Tom looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Juleka was beset upon by a coughing fit. When she was finished, she turned to Tom.

"Somebody had to stay behind to set up the explosives we made in the school chemistry lab. So, when we were ready to go, Marinette's mom took a cloak from the drama department, and she headed off in the opposite direction. After we were captured, she doubled back, and set up the explosives."

"I thought it was a good plan." A new voice said. Everybody turned to the source. There stood the hooded figure. Only, the hooded figure was standing straight, and the hood was down, revealing Sabine. Immediately, Tom stood up and hugged her gently.

"Sabine!" He said. "I thought I had lost you." Sabine patted her husband's immense arms lovingly.

"Don't worry dear." She whispered. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Marinette interrupted, "but Tikki's gone forever now." Everybody looked at her, to see tears streaming down her face once again. "I couldn't retrieve her before the explosion. She's gone forever. Everybody's gone forever." Cat Noir patted her on the back.

"Don't worry Milady." He said. "I head him calling those chants before the room exploded. I'm sure that he transformed before the explosion. Tikki should be fine." As if to prove his point, an extraordinarily loud roar erupted from the Agreste mansion. Then, as if a pulse of energy was ravaging the mansion, he entire building exploded. A large shape launched itself out of the ruin, trailing amber flames, before landing a few feet away from the group. Sabine gasped in fear. Mylene fainted. Juleka shrieked. Cat Noir and Marinette stood, stunned. Tom moved to shield everybody from the monster before them. The creature before them was unlike anything any of them had ever seen. It stood a little bit taller than Tom. A pair of huge, red-spotted, clawed feet were embedded into the ground, gripping it savagely. Moving upward, a pair of monstrously muscular legs led up to a broad and muscular black chest, the center of which was adorned by a silver emblem depicting a moth being surrounded by a spider. A light blue peacock emblem rested above the silver emblem. Next to that was an emblem depicting a fox's tail. Six huge arms sprouted from the monster's chest. The lowest left one was furry and yellow, with jagged black streaks running down it. The fingers of the hand ended in ebony stinger-like claws. A tonpo was clutched in the hand. The lowest left one was deep blue, and appeared to be covered in feathers. The hand of this arm clutched a blue-feather fan. The center left arm was latticed with a chitinous, furry material. In its claw-like hand, there was an elongated cane, although it resembled a staff more than a cane. The center right arm was red and dotted with black spots, and in its hand rested a red-and-black-spotted Yo-Yo. The top left arm was covered in reddish-brown fur. In the claw of this hand, it grasped a flute. The top right arm was green and scaly. There was not a weapon in this hand, but the fingers were thick and brown, like a shell was covering each of them, and a bracelet donned its wrist. The head possessed a horrendous pair of mandibles instead of a mouth, and the rest of the face was completely covered by eight ruby-red eyes. Sprouting from the mass of raven-black hair atop the monster's head was a pair of antennae. From the monster's back sprouted a massive pair of deep lavender butterfly wings. Nine long, red-scaled tails erupted from the monster's rear, bright blue feathers exploded outward at the end of every tail. A large, ebony stinger emerged from the plumage at the end of every tail. Eight black balls floated in a ring around the creature's wings, like a halo.

"What you witness now is the penultimate form of Azrael." The monster said. Its voice came to them more as if it was speaking directly to their minds, rather than through their ears. It was impossibly deep, yet it also consisted of a series of hisses and clicks instead of actual words. "When one acquires all of the miraculouses, one gains the power to become Azrael: The Angel of Death, with the power to restart the world from the beginning. All I need is the Ring of the Black Cat, and I can reset _everything_. I will create from scratch a world in which Kwamis will _never_ have to worry about being abused." Azrael took a step forward, cracking the ground as he put his weight on it. "YOU WILL NOT STAND IN MY WAY!" The roar, sent them flying. Cat Noir shielded Marinette from a crash landing, Tom shielded the other three. Cat Noir stood shakily after he recovered from the attack. Despite the situation, he snickered.

"Boss fight initiated." He said. Perhaps out of stress or fear, Marinette busted up laughing. Cat Noir placed a hand on her shoulder. "Marinette, stay back until we recover your miraculous." Suddenly, Cat Noir was flying through the air toward Azrael, who had thrown and wrapped the Yo-Yo around Cat Noir's waist. As Cat Noir flew toward him, Azrael held out his scaly green arm, shelled fingers outstretched. Suddenly, Tom threw himself into Azrael, shoulder first, catching the monster off guard. Cat Crashed into the monster as well, but the hand couldn't catch him. Instead, Cat cashed facefirst into the top of Azrael's wings. He was immediately untangled from the Yo-Yo, and he lunged at Azrael's head. Before Azrael could figure out what was happening, Cat Noir managed to pry the Earrings of the Ladybug off of Azrael's ears. Immediately after the earrings left his hears, a bright flash erupted from Azrael, and Tom and Cat Noir were thrown from him violently. When the light died, Azrael was laying on the ground in a heap. He propped himself up on his six arms, and the audience could discern the changes that had already taken place on Azrael's body. The large clawed feet were now completely red, but not with a ladybug design. His legs were red with blood. His center right arm was now normally-sized, and dripping with blood. Each of his nine tails were drenched in blood as well, as was the entire right side of his face. One of the eye sockets on the left side of his face was empty, as if the eye inside it had exploded. He roared, sending a shockwave reverberating down the block. The force, while not strong enough to do any real damage, was strong enough to rouse Alya and Nino from unconsciousness. As they began to stir, Azrael turned to Cat Noir.

"Give me the Earrings." He demanded. Cat Noir grinned and tossed the earrings from hand to hand.

"Oh, you mean these earrings?" He said. "I think they belong to somebody else. Isn't that right Tikki?" Upon being addressed, the red Kwami floated down from above and sat on Cat Noir's head. Marinette gasped.

"Tikki!" She cried out. "I thought you were gone forever!" Tikki shook her head.

"I would never leave you like that, Marinette." She said. Cat grinned, and tossed the earrings upward. Tikki caught them.

"Now, go on." He told the Kwami. "We need a miracle right now." Tikki giggled.

"One miracle, coming up." She said, before flying swiftly toward Marinette. Azrael moved to intercept, but Tom rammed into him again. The monster crashed into a wall, and Tikki launched herself into Marinette's waiting arms. The girl embraced her Kwami emotionally, shedding tears of joy. She put the earrings on, but before she could transform, there was movement. Azrael rose slowly from the rubble, utter fury in his remaining eyes as he glared at Tom.

"YOU DIE FIRST!" He bellowed, before taking flight. The halo of balls around his wings broke apart, each ball rocketing toward Tom with the speed of a bullet. They tore through him like buckshot, leaving holes all throughout his body. Then, Azrael grabbed Tom's head in his green arm, and flew up high in the air. Then, with speed equal to the balls he sent toward Tom before, the furled his wings and plummeted back to earth, smashing Tom down into the ground with enough force to crack the entire city block. Then, when the dust fully cleared and Marinette could clearly see the scene in front of her, all nine of Azrael's tails rose, stingers pointed at Tom's prone form on the street. A second before it happened, Marinette knew what was going to happen. However, before she could make any move to react, each of the stingers shot downward and impaled Tom. Marinette screamed. Azrael pulled the stingers out of Tom's mangled body, and hissed in triumph. He grasped Tom's head with his green arm, and lifted the body high, as if he were going to toss it aside. Suddenly, Tom grasped the bracelet with his massive hands and managed to rip it off of Azrael's arm. Azrael let go of Tom, who dropped onto the monster's chest. With a truly herculean effort, even by his superhuman standards, Tom grasped the fox emblem on Azrael's chest, and ripped it away. Immediately, there was a another flash of light, and Azrael transformed some more. His two upper arms had become normal, and both were dripping with blood. His entire face was now coated in blood, and his eyes continued to blink repeatedly, trying to clear themselves. He no longer possessed any tails, his wings were torn, and the beautiful plumage was matted with an egregious amount of blood. Blood was also seeping from a hole in Azrael's chest where the fox tail emblem used to be. He staggered to his feet. He screamed in fury. "PITIFUL WRETCH! I'LL RIP YOU IN HALF!" He flung himself at Tom who tossed the two miraculouses over his attacker to Cat Noir, who caught them. Immediately, Tom was seized by a furious Azrael.

"I'm sorry Marinette." Tom whispered out, choking on the blood in his throat. It was gurgly and quiet, but Marinette could hear him just fine. "I wish I could have been more help." Then, as if he were paper mache, Azrael kept his promise. One would think hat Marinette would have run out of moisture to cry out at this point, but she found enough for a couple more tears.

"Marinette, quickly!" Cat Noir called. "Do it now, I'll hold him off." Azrael turned to him, blinded by his rage.

"YOU'RE NEXT!" He shouted. Before he could lunge at Cat Noir, Nino called out.

"Dude, throw them." He called, waving his arms. He and Alya were a little way down the street. Looking around, Marinette realized that Mylene, Juleka, and her mom were nowhere to be found. She didn't have time to dwell on that, for Cat Noir threw both the fox and the turtle miraculous at Nino, who caught both. He handed the fox necklace to Alya, who put it on right away. Trixx flew up and sat on her shoulder.

"Hi, I'm Trixx." She said. "Introductions later. Here's your crash course: after you transform, you can call out 'Friendly Faux' and create a number of copies of yourself or other people. Only one person though." Alya scoffed.

"What, like shadow clones?" She asked. Trixx giggled.

"Basically. After using your power, you have five minutes before changing back. To transform, just say 'The Hunt Is On!'" Trixx thought quickly, seeing if she forgot anything. "Oh yeah, if you need to transform again after your five minutes, I need some food. I prefer spicy foods, but anything will do in a pinch."

"And I am Wayzz." Wayzz said to Nino. "The same rules apply to you. Your power is called 'Harepin Turn.' It gives you a huge burst of speed, but only until you stop moving. Your transformation phrase is 'Shields Up.' If you need to transform, I prefer sour foods, but I'll take anything you can manage."

"Do you two understand?" Trixx asked them. "You _must_ defeat that monster. If he gets ahold of the ladybug and black cat miraculouses, it's only a matter of time before he recovers these two, and then it's game over."

"I'm sorry if you two don't understand, or if you don't think you're ready, but we must act now." Wayzz said hurriedly. "You two must transform now. Good luck." Alya and Nino glanced at each other for a moment, and nodded.

LINE BREAK

Right after Cat Noir threw the miraculouses at Nino, Azrael lunged at him, and he had to use all of his focus to fight the monster off with his staff. He dodged and leaped desperately, avoiding the bullet-like balls flying toward him from all directions, as well as his opponent's six wild arms and three weapons. Very quickly (much too quickly for Cat Noir's liking), the feline superhero began to tire. He wanted to yell at Marinette to transform and use her Miraculous Ladybug right now, but he couldn't pry his attention away from the combat for even a second. Suddenly, Nino's and Alya's voices rang out.

"Shields Up!"

"The Hunt Is On!"

There was a flash, and Alya and Nino stood transformed into their superhero forms. Azrael paused his assault long enough to look over at the two, then his head whipped over to Marinette, who stood there, stunned.

"What are you doing!?" He shouted. "Transform!" His shout galvanized Marinette, but it also galvanized Azrael. The monster whirled on Marinette.

"I DON'T THINK SO!" He shouted, and lunged at her.

"Harepin turn!" Nino cried, and he flew at Azrael in a flash of green. He rushed around their foe, knocking him off balance and pummeling him relentlessly. Marinette finally took the opportunity that was presented to her.

"Spots On!" She cried, and she transformed into Ladybug once again. Without hesitation, she immediately threw her Yo-o into the air and struck a pose. "Lucky Charm!" The item that her power created this time was a simple sheet of red paper dotted with black spots.

"What are supposed to do with a piece of paper?" Cat Noir asked, smacking Azrael in the face with his staff.

"It doesn't matter." Alya said, raising her flute to hr lips. "Just do what you need to do. Friendly Faux!" She began to play a song on her flute. As the musical waves emanated from the instrument, Nino (still rushing around and pummeling Azrael) appeared to multiply, and suddenly Azrael was overwhelmed.

"Quickly, use the Miraculous Ladybug!" Cat Noir said. "Put everything back to normal." Ladybug nodded. She threw the paper into the air.

"I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU!" Azrael bellowed, before a group of Nino cloned flattened him.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug cried out, and the paper exploded into a massive cloud of ladybugs.

"I REFUSE!" Azrael cried out from his place on the ground. "RHABDOPHOBIA!" One of the flying black balls exploded, and a wave of darkness washed over everything, including the ladybugs. All the Nino clones vanished, Nino stopped running and fell, and the ladybugs disappeared. There was silence, and Azrael slowly got to his feet. He began laughing hysterically. "So close." He told them. "So close, but so far. Rhabdophobia is Nooroo's failsafe, just in case any of the people he empowers become too powerful. It nullifies any and all other powers. Nice try." Suddenly, Marinette's earrings, Alya's necklace, and Nino's bracelet began beeping. "Once you revert back to your human forms, the miraculouses will be mine, and I will reset the world."

"Scatter!" Cat Noir cried. "Find some place to hide. I'll hold him off while you guys get away." And with that, he leaped toward Azrael, wielding his staff.


	11. Chapter 11

Ladybug, Alya, and Nino found themselves resting in the basement of a random building near the Louvre. After Cat Noir had leaped at Azrael, the three ran, meeting up at the Louvre. Then, together, they hid in the basement of the first building they could find. Now, the three of them were laying on the floor, panting for breath, when suddenly all of their transformations ran out. The Kwamis were now laying on top of their respective miraculous holders, panting. They lay there for a few minutes, and then Alya looked over at Marinette, who was cradling Tikki lovingly.

"So, you've been Ladybug this entire time?" She asked her best friend, who merely nodded. "How long?" Marinette shrugged.

"Since the day we met?" She said uncertainly. "The day after? I don't really remember." She looked back to Alya, smiling. "I tried to give the miraculous to you when I first got it. You were so into superheroes, and you were so much more confident than I was. You seemed like a better candidate as Ladybug than me." She giggled. "I snuck the earrings into your bag, but then you ran off to videotape Stoneheart, and you didn't even take your bag with you. After that, I accepted my role as Ladybug." She fell silent for a moment, and then she looked way from Alya. "I'm sorry I lied to you."

"Are you kidding? This is amazing!" Alya said, sitting up. "My best friend and my hero are the same person! You've been protecting everybody all along. I looked up to you. I still do. Ladybug or Marinette, you're amazing either way."

"She's got a point." Said another voice. The girls looked at Nino, who was sprawled in a corner, Wayzz laying on his chest. When he saw the girls looking at him, he pointed to the stairs leading down to the basement. There stood Cat Noir, holding his left arm, grinning. He made his way down the steps, and collapsed onto the bottom step unceremoniously. He transformed back into Adrien, and Plagg shot out toward Marinette, who caught him with one hand. She stood up and rushed over to Adrien.

"Adrien, are you alright?" She asked the blonde boy sitting on the step. He nodded, grimacing when he moved his arms. That was when Marinette noticed the bloody gash running down his left arm. She gasped. "What happened to you?"

"I got in a lucky shot with my Cataclysm." He said. "I managed to get this." He reached into his pant pocket, and pulled out a yellow comb, with the top styled to look like a bee. Marinette stared at it for a moment, before looking at Adrien quizzically.

"What is that?" She asked. Suddenly, there was a groan, and the yellow Kwami that Marinette saw floating behind Hawk Moth before he became Azrael flew out of Adrien's pocket.

"Are you stupid or something?" The Kwami asked. Its voice was tiny and somewhat shrill, and Marinette actually found it kind of annoying. "What else could it be? Why would Azrael or whoever just have a random bee-shaped cone if it wasn't a miraculous?" Marinette huffed and gave Plagg back to Adrien.

"Well excuse me if I'm a little distracted." She said. "In case you haven't noticed, Paris is half destroyed, my parents and most of my friends are dead, and the friends I have remaining are injured, tired, and have no idea what they're doing."

"Actually, I have a pretty good idea what I'm doing." Adrien said. "I have been doing his for some time, after all."

"You don't count." Plagg said weakly. "You're a love interest."

"MY POINT," Marinette continued, "is that I'm a little preoccupied." The Kwami huffed and crossed its arms.

"Whatever." It said. "I'm Pollen."

"That means Azrael has three miraculouses left." Marinette said. "The Spider, Moth, and Peacock miraculouses."

"Yeah, and good luck getting those from him." Pollen said. "He's gone insane with anger. You won't get close enough to take the others."

"I don't need the others." Marinette said. "All I need to do is transform again. Then I can use the lucky charm and fix everything."

"But won't he just use that Rhabdophobia thing?" Nino asked. "When he used it last time, one of those balls exploded. He has seven more, so it stands to reason that he can do it seven more times."

"That's a good point." Marinette addmitted. "But if I can transform before he finds us then he won't be here to nullify it."

"Even so, you still need to transform." Adrien said. He stood up. "That means that I need to get Tikki some food. What does she like?" Marinette frowned.

"You aren't going anywhere." She said. She gestured to his bleeding arm. "Not like that." He looked at his arm, and he shrugged.

"It isn't as bad as it looks." He assured her. "I promise." Nino stood up. Wayzz flew up to his shoulder, and rested there.

"It's cool. Marinette and I can go get some food for these little duds. You and Alya should stay her and rest up." He said. Alya huffed and stood, Trixx flying up to her shoulder as well.

"Why should I stay here?" She asked. Nino pointed to a first aid kit next to where he had been laying.

"You know first aid." He said. "I don't. Besides, Marinette knows what to look for. I'll just be there to help her out." Alya sighed.

"Fine." She said. She walked over to Nino and gave him a quick kiss. "Just be careful, okay?" Nino just nodded, grinning.

"Get a room." Pollen said. Trixx growled.

"Shut up Pollen." She said. "Just because you can't land a mate doesn't mean these two can't." Pollen, face became a brighter shade of yellow.

"Excuse me?" She cried out. "I'll have you know-"

"It doesn't matter." Marinette intrrupted. "Come on Nino, we have work to do." And with that, she stepped beyond Adrien and walked up the steps, Nino following closely behind her.

LINE BREAK

After their two best friends left to get food for the Kwamis, Alya dragged Adrien over to the first-aid kit Nino had pointed out earlier, and began tending to his wound.

"So, how long have you been Cat Noir?" She asked. Adrien winced as she cleaned out his wound.

"About as long as Marinette has been Ladybug." He said. "We first met as superheroes when Stoneheart started his rampage."

"Do you like Marinette?" She suddenly asked. Adrien froze when she said than, unable to answer. He was about to say something (what it would be, he didn't know), when Pollen interrupted him.

"Who even cares?" The Kwami said. "All this talk of relationships has nothing to do with the situation."

"Pollen, I swear," Trixx growled out, "if you don't shut up, I'll drown you in a can of Raid." That threat seemed to shut the bee Kwami up, and Pollen flew over to another corner of the room. Adrien and Alya stared at the two Kwamis for a second, before Adrien asked his question.

"Do you and Pollen know each other?" He asked Trixx. The fox Kwami nodded.

"All Kwamis know each other." She explained. "I just have the bad luck to know Pollen better than most. Tikki gets to pair up with Plagg, but my partner is always Pollen."

"So, does that mean you know the spider Kwami?" Adrien asked.

"Phoo is... an interesting case." She answered after a brief pause. Alya, who had finished tending to Adrien's wound by now, turned to the Kwami and raised an eyebrow.

"How so?" She inquired, but Trixx shook her head.

"It doesn't matter now." She said. "You should return to your previous topic." She looked at Adrien. "I believe we were asking about your interest in Tikki's holder, right?" despite the situation, Adrien blushed.

"Marinette? Of course I like her. Who wouldn't?" He confessed. "She's nice, smart, funny. She's an amazing friend." Alya leaned forward.

"Yeah, but do you _like_ her?" She asked, all serious now. "I want an answer. I know you know that she liked you, and I know you've known for awhile. I convinced Marinette that she liked Cameron. I regret that now. I just want to know if I was right to help her move on." Adrien looked down, clasping his bandaged left arm in his other arm. There was a silence, but Adrien broke it before long.

"I didn't know she liked me." He said. "Not until Cameron told me. I was oblivious, because I fell for Ladybug the first time we met. A relationship with Marinette never crossed my mind. But after I found out that she _was_ Ladybug, I started noticing similarities that I never noticed before." He looked back up at Alya, and she could see the anguish in his eyes. "I love Marinette. I'm sure of that. But, I don't think I deserve to love her anymore." Then, unceremoniously, Alya slapped him. Adrien sat there, stunned, as the sound of the slap reverberated around the room.

"Never say that again." She said. "It's that stupid attitude that turned this entire thing into a problem in the first place. After all of this is over, you and Marinette _will_ sit down and have a discussion. Understand?" Wordlessly, Adrien nodded. Trixx floated in front of Alya's face, staring at her in awe. Then, she smirked.

"You know something? I like your style." She told Alya, who smiled in return. Then she frowned.

"What will happen to you after all of this is over?" She asked. Trixx shrugged.

"I'll probably go back into hibernation in the necklace." She said, pointing to the necklace around Alya's neck. "And there I'll stay until a new hero is chosen." Alya felt a twinge of an emotion she had never felt before: sadness.

"What about the others?" She asked with a frown. Trixx shrugged again.

"Kwamis stay dormant in their miraculouses when they aren't partnered with a hero." Trixx explained. "Unless the Great Guardian decides to bestow the miraculouses on somebody, we'll just go dormant and wait."

"What's it like, being dormant?" Trixx floated over and sat on Alya's head.

"It's like sleeping." Trixx told her. "Dreamless sleeping. It's kind of hard to explain to a human." She stretched. "I really prefer being out here, even if it is super dangerous." The five of them then sat in silence, until Marinette, Nino, Tikki, and Wayzz walked back down the stairs, their arms full of food.

"Hey guys," Nino said, "we need to talk."

LINE BREAK

A couple minutes after Nino and Marinette, followed by their Kwamis, left the basement, they realized that the building they had hidden in was 1: a candy store, and 2: right next to a cheese shop. After acquiring the candy that they needed, the group made their way next door, and began searching for Camembert.

"Why are we looking for Camembert?" Nino said.

"That's what Plagg likes to eat." Tikki said.

"Haven't you noticed that Adrien always kind of smells like Camembert cheese?" Marinette said, browsing through a rack of cheeses.

"Now that you mention it, he does." Nino agreed, and started helping her look. After a minute of searching, Nino voiced something he had been curious about for some time. "Cameron knew that you were Ladybug, right?" At the mention of her evil boyfriend, Marinette froze.

"Yeah." She answered in a tight voice. "Why?"

"If he knew your civilian identity, why didn't he just take your miraculous when you were defenseless? Like when you were asleep or something?" Marinette's breath became shaky. She had contemplated that exact question for the previous week: why did Cameron bother to get close to her? Why not just take her earrings when she least expected it? The answers had eluded her for days. However, after confronting Azrael earlier, and watching him kill her friends, she realized why.

"He wanted to break my spirit." She said quietly. "He wanted to make sure that he had me wrapped around his little finger. A little salt in the wounds, a little fuel for the fire. He arranged it so that I _gave_ him my miraculous, just to rub it in. He made me doubt myself, so that I would be helpless to stop this horribly stuff from happening." Tikki, who was busily munching on a bag of candy in Marinette's purse, put her treat aside for a moment, and flew up to hover in front of her holder's face.

"This isn't your fault Marinette." She consoled the blue-haired girl in front of her. "He tricked everybody, including me." She rested her tiny hand on Marinette's cheek. "You couldn't have known what would happen."

"She's right." Nino said. He patted Marinette soothingly on the back. "And besides, that's all in the past now. Regardless of how it happened, you have a chance to put things right." Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Why didn't he transform when he had the chance?" Marinette looked up at him, confused.

"What?" She asked, still blinking away dry tears. Nino frowned, certain that he was on the cusp of a world-shaking revelation.

"He had all the miraculouses for the better part of a week." He explained. "If all he needed was the miraculouses, why didn't he become Azrael when he had the chance? Why is he only concerned with doing it now?" Marinette frowned, realizing he was right.

"Actually, I can explain that." Wayzz said from Nino's shoulder. Everybody turned to him. "There is another requirement needed to transform into Azrael. You see, the power of Azrael was created as a last resort, in case somebody managed to use the absolute power of the ladybug and black cat miraculouses to damage the world irrevocably. Originally, The Angel of Death was only meant to be unleashed in the event that the world could no longer be saved from destruction."

"I was a way to redo things." Tikki continued. "A way to stop the end of the world. But, the creators didn't want the power of Azrael to be used for evil, so they put in a certain condition when they created the miraculouses."

"Somebody can only become Azrael when the world is on the brink of total chaos. That's why Cameron wasn't able to transform into the Angel of Death: the world wasn't close to being destroyed. However, once he gets ahold of all of the miraculouses, he will have enough power to create the conditions he needs to Reset."

"There is some good news though." Tikki said, seeing their stunned faces. "Nino was right about those balls. Those are the reason why he hasn't powered down yet. Once those balls are gone, then his five minutes will start. Plus, if he powers down, he can't ever become Azrael."

"Why not?" Marinette asked.

"Another failsafe, just in case." Wayzz answered. "If somebody has experienced the power of Azrael once, they can never transform into The Angel of Death ever again. Cameron made it to the penultimate form, which is close enough for the 'singles rule' to apply."

"That means that if we manage to get him to revert back to his civilian form, then he can never reset the world." Tikki finished. The two humans stared at their Kwamis.

"Why are you just telling us this stuff now?" Marinette said after a short pause, her tone accusatory. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier, when we actually had help?" Tikki looked to the ground, ashamed.

"Would you believe me if I told you that it slipped my mind?" She asked sheepishly.

"What?" Marinette hissed. "'It slipped your mind?' Do you have any idea how stupid that is? This is serious Tikki!" The Kwami huffed.

"I'm thousands of years old!" She exclaimed. "And in case you don't remember, I had been kidnapped by Cameron, forced to transform him into the penultimate form of _The Angel of_ Death, and when I finally got free, we were all fixated on using the Miraculous Ladybug. Sorry if something from a couple hundred _lifetimes_ ago slipped my mind." Marinette, ashamed, couldn't bear to look at her Kwami.

"I'm sorry Tikki." She said after a short time. "I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to yell at you." Without thinking, the red Kwami hugged her.

"It's alright Marinette." She consoled her friend. "I understand how stressful this must be for you. You were right to be angry. I'm sorry for yelling back." Marinette smiled gently, and lightly hugged Tikki to her chest.

"I don't deserve a friend like you." She whispered. "I think I understand why Cameron was so determined to find Nooroo now." Tikki looked up at her holder's face.

"What do you mean?" She asked. Marinette chuckled weakly.

"Meeting you was one of the best things to happen to me." She responded. "You have helped me so much. You're like family to me. I love you. If Nooroo was anything to Cameron like you are for me, I can totally understand his obsession with getting him back."

"Thank you Marinette." Tikki replied. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I love you too." They stood there in silence, until Nino coughed.

"I'm, uh, sorry to interrupt, but we need to get going." He said, breaking the silence. Marinette nodded, and let Tikki go.

"Right, sorry." She said. "We need to focus. All we need is some Camembert." Without thinking, she placed her hand on a weird piece of cheese, the instant her fingers came in contact with the cheese, she recoiled and whirled on the offending dairy product.

"What the?" She mumbled, wiping her hand on her pants to rid it of the slimy feeling the cheese had given it.

"Looks like Camembert." Tikki said. "Let's take it and go, quickly." Marinette, disgusted, looked around until she found a plate, slid the Camembert onto it, and shuddered at the brief contact she had with the food.

"How can anyone stand this stuff?" She asked nobody in particular. "Adrien must have amazing fortitude." Nino couldn't help but notice the slight admiration in her voice. Despite their haste, he smiled.

"You really like Adrien, don't you?" He asked. Marinette sighed.

"I used to." She said. "But then Cameron came along, and I fell for him. I know those feelings were fake, but they're still there. I still like him." She clenched her fists. "I can't bring myself to hate him, regardless of what he's done. I can just hear him laughing at how well he managed to manipulate me. It pisses me off." Nino was shocked, because he had never heard Marinette even come close to swearing. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and began to lead her back to where their friends were.

"Once all of this is said and done, you and Adrien should sit down and talk things out." He told her. "I'd hate to see your friendship dissolve because of this." Marinette was quiet for a moment, and then she nodded.

"I guess you're right." She said. "But we have to get through this mess first." They made it to the staircase without incident, and they went down to meet their friends, their arms full of food.

"Hey guys," Nino said, once they could see their friends, "we need to talk."


	12. Chapter 12

"So, all we need to do is get him to power down?" Adrien asked. Once Nino nd Marinette returned with the food the Kwamis needed, they told the other two what they had discovered about Azrael. Plagg, who had been sleeping in Adrien's pocket until Marinette brought him the Camembert, burped.

"Oh yeah." He said. "I forgot about the 'single's rule.'"

"Did nobody tell them?" Pollen chirped. She had flown over to where the others had gathered, now back to her normal bratty self. "Are you kidding?"

"Who could have told them?" Trixx snapped. "We were all 'incapacitated' until just a short time ago." Pollen got in Trixx's face.

"What about Wayzz? The Great Guardian always kept _him_ around. He could have told them." She said with some heat.

"I had no knowledge that he knew about Azrael, let alone be trying to transform into it." Wayzz said. Pollen whirled on him.

"What is your problem, Pollen?" Plagg asked. "Not enough 'pollen' in the air?" Pollen's face became really bright yellow.

"I knew you would make that joke!" She screamed. "You are the most immature, self-indulgent piece of-"

"Shut up." Tikki and Trixx said at the same time. Pollen immediately silenced, and Marinette sighed in relief.

"So, Tikki, are you ready to transform again." She asked. The red Kwami nodded. Marinette stood up. "Alright then. Tikki, Spots On!" Then, in a flash, she transformed. Before she used her Lucky Charm, Nino and Alya looked at their own Kwamis.

"How about you little dude?" Nino asked Wayzz. "Ready to give her some backup?" When the turtle Kwami nodded, Nino raised his bracelet arm with a grin. "Shields Up!"

"How about you Trixx?" Alya asked as her boyfriend transformed. Trixx nodded , so Alya opened her arms, as if asking a hug. "The Hunt Is On!" And then, she transformed as well. Adrien attempted to stand up and transform with the rest of them, but before he could, he felt a pointed pressure in his chest, and he fell back down with a thunk. Everybody looked at him, and their eyes widened. He didn't understand, until he looked down at his chest, and saw the staff embedded in his chest. He looked up at the stairs, and what he saw made his slowly emptying veins run cold. Azrael was standing at the top of the stairs, his left center arm positioned as if he had just thrown the staff like a javelin (which Adrien guessed he had). He looked the same as last time they had seen him, except that he didn't have a stinger, his lowest left arm was now back to normal, and his entire body was dripping with blood. Adrien coughed.

"You'd think you would have bled to death by now." He said, blood starting to stream from his mouth. Confused, everybody looked to the stairs, and Ladybug gasped.

"Look whose talking." Azrael hissed in glee. "Though, I think you'll find that I am much more resilient than you." He waved with one of his hands. In the fogginess that was beginning to envelope his mind, Adrien had the thought that the hand was the same one Spider had shaken his hand with when they first met, but he couldn't be sure and he didn't really care. "See you around, Cat Noir." Suddenly, Nino rushed at Azrael, talking him back up the stairs. Alya turned to Ladybug.

"Do what you need to do. Nino and I will distract him." She said, before running up the stairs, brandishing her flute like a sword. Ladybug was about to use her Lucky Charm, when Adrien was struck by a thought.

"Marinette." He croaked. Immediately, she girl turned to him. He tried to raise his arm, to wave her over, but he couldn't move. "Come here." Hesitantly, she obeyed, kneeling down next to him.

"What is it?" She asked. "I need to hurry, or you'll die." Adrien chuckled, but the action caused him pain.

"I'm almost there anyway." He assured her. "I need to tell you something." He was overcome by a coughing fit, spraying blood all over Ladybug. "Sorry." He said when he was finished. Then, before she could interrupt him, he continued. "You can't use the Miraculous Ladybug until you beat him. Otherwise, he'll just shut it down, and eventually, you won't be able to get away from him and hide. Please, take my ring. Beat him." Marinette was stunned.

"But-"

"Hawk Moth wanted them both, because they give ultimate power." Adrien said, now fighting to remain conscious. "Take my ring, use that power, and save everybody." After a moment of hesitation, Ladybug nodded and took Adrian's ring hand in her own.

"Alright." She said. "I'll do it. Thank you." She made to stnd up, but Adrien used the last of his energy to weakly grip her wrist.

"Whatever happened between us," he wheezed out, "I want you to know: I love you." And then, he couldn't fight off unconsciousness any more. He looked once more into Ladybug's eyes, and he was gone. Ladybug, witnessing Adrien's passing, choked back a sob, and closed his eyes. She gently removed the ring from his finger, and put it on her own ring finger. Plagg floated up to her, staring at Adrien's body. Tears were flowing unhindered from his eyes.

"I never thought that something like this could happen." He said. "I never... I..." He looked helplessly at Ladybug. "Why does it hurt so much?" Ladybug patted him on the head.

"I never thought it would come to this either." She said. "But now I need your help. Will you help me fix all of this?" He nodded.

"Just promise me that you'll win." He said, still crying. Ladybug nodded.

"I promise." She said. Suddenly, she heard a crash from upstairs, as well as a shout of pain. He face hardened into a mask of determination. Cameron would _not_ take anything else from her. She turned to Pollen, who had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, eyes wide in horror. "Look after him, alright?" The bee Kwami nodded, and came to rest on the ground in front of him. Ladybug clasped her hands together, as if in prayer. "Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses, please grant my wish." Then, Ladybug turned to Plagg. "Plagg, Claws Out."

LINE BREAK

Nino and Alya thought they were doing well against Azrael. At least, until he ran out of the store and took to the air. Alya and Nino followed him out, but they were unable to continue the battle. Instead, they desperately avoided the balls flying at them with bullet-like speed. After a couple seconds one of the balls managed to rip through Nino's knee. He cried out, and collapsed, clutching his leg. All the balls flew back up to orbit Azrael, who cackled insanely.

"So this is all that remains of the greatest heroes Paris has ever known!" He called down. "A pair of newbies who don't even know how to jump!" The balls began orbiting him faster, until they formed a solid ring. "Farewell, false heroes." He was about to launch the ring of orbs at the two heroes on the ground, when the entire building behind them was enveloped in a column of purple light. All three of them looked over, to see the light die down, revealing a crater where the building had been. A woman floated up from the crater. Her long blue hair flowed above her like a waterfall, waving in an unfelt wind. Her arms were bent at her sides, her fists pointed away from her diagonally. She was clad entirely in a glowing purple bodysuit, and her eyes were simply pools of pure light. Behind her floated a large purple sun-like projection. ( **AN: If you don't get it, watch Origins part 1. When Nooroo tells Hawk Moth about the ladybug and black cat miraculouses granting absolute power, the image that shows up is what she looks like. Just imagine it's a girl instead of a buff guy.** )

"Marinette?" Azrael asked upon seeing her. "Is that you?" The woman rose, until she was at the same height as him.

"It was, once." She said. Her voice sounded like three people talking at once, superimposing their voices over each other. One voice was Marinette's, one voice was a deep and powerful masculine voice, and the third voice was clear and kind feminine voice. "Not anymore. You saw to that."

"What did I do?" He asked, but his constant cackling betrayed his feigned ignorance.

"Is all of this a joke to you?" She asked, her triplet of voices echoing throughout the ravaged city beneath her. "All of the lives you've ruined? Did they mean nothing to you?"

"Like you can preach to me about ruining lives." He replied. "How many lives have you ruined in your pursuit of happiness? The only difference between us is that I did more."

"You have left a scar on the world that will only heal with your fall." Marinette intoned. Azrael cackled.

"'Heal with your fall?'" He repeated. "Who talks like that? I know you don't." Marinette cocked her head.

"You mistake me for Marinette." She said. "I am no longer Marinette. I have no name."

"If you aren't Marinette, then who are you?" Azrael questioned. "Why are you fighting me?"

"Marinette called on me." The being told Azrael. "She begged me to grant her wish. Her sincerity was pure, and so her wish I shall grant."

"What wish?" The monster snapped. "What desire could supersede my goal? I'm going to change the world!"

"You wish to destroy the world." The being said. "Your desire is to create a world without life, without love, without hope."

"I'M GOING TO SAVE THEM!" Azrael shouted. "Even you must see how corrupt this world has become. Kwamis were never meant to be subjugated by people. That perversion of nature should never have existed in the first place. HUMANITY SHOULD NEVER HAVE EXISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"Your misguided views on humanity have stemmed from your tragic past." The being replied calmly. "In the face of your powerlessness and insecurity, you chose to lash out at the world petulantly. You latched on to whatever you could find in a desperate attempt to alleviate your despair. The thing you latched on to were the Kwamis. Despite your claim of messianism, you yourself have abused the Kwamis you claim to hold so dear to your heart."

"SILENCE!" The monster bellowed. "You don't understand anything about my life! I have seen humans destroy the world around them! I've seen them tear it apart with their own hands. I'm just granting _their_ wish. What's wrong with that?" The being shook its head.

"I see now." It said, almost mournfully. "No matter what happens, you will not let go of your false ideals. Very well, I shall end your pain. Come, Azrael, let us end this." Suddenly, with wicked speed, Azrael shot toward the being. Before Azrael could make contact, the being backhanded him into the Eiffel Tower, which shattered under the force. The being raised a fist, pointing it where Azrael collided with the earth. Its entire body began to glow. "Azrael, on behalf of every life you have ravaged in your way, on behalf of every soul you have crushed, I will strike you down, and grant Marinette's wish."


	13. Chapter 13

The sky above Paris was lit with flashes of purple light, as Azrael and the being that was once Marinette clashed again and again. They twisted and lunged at each other, dancing savagely through the air above the destroyed city. The being was proving to be Azrael's superior in nearly every aspect. Speed, power, durability. The being was the better at all of them. After their most recent clash, the being flew backward, grasping the purple sun-like projection behind it. It lifted the projection over its shoulder, as if it were a tremendous shuriken, and threw it at Azrael.

"Rhabdophobia!" He cried, transforming one of his balls into a wave of darkness that washed over and destroyed the shuriken. The being, unperturbed, created another one, which it once again threw at Azrael, who attempted to dodge it. However, instead of it flying by, the shuriken exploded in a massive ball of purple light. Azrael flew out of the explosion, undamaged. One of his balls (there were six remaining) transformed into a staff even longer than the one he had impaled Adrien with. He flew at the being once again, and they clashed once more. There was another flash of light, and Azrael shot down to the ground, slamming into it and sending up a large cloud of debris. The lowest two arms on his right side were missing.

"You are unable to defeat me." The being said, floating down the ground level. "As you are, you are not even truly Azrael anymore. You do not come close to the level of power needed to match me."

"Screw you." Azrael said. "I won't allow you to stand in my way. I _will_ change the world."

"Why must you begin the world again?" The being asked. "Why do you deem this extreme necessary?"

"I tried being a pacifist." Azrael replied. "People took advantage of my kindness. I tried 'spreading the love.' I was ostracized from society. My mother was forced to almost work herself to death because my good-for-nothing father refused to support her once he found out that he was going to have to be responsible for someone other than himself. The only thing stopping me from killing myself in my depression was Nooroo. He was the only good thing in my life, and I mean the _only_ good thing. And then he was stolen from me, and my mother was killed." He stood slowly. "I've seen human selfishness and greed permeate society. I've seen orphans arrested and executed just for trying to find some food to eat. This world is like a tree, slowly dying of disease. The only way to stop the disease from spreading to the rest of the forest is to cut down the tree and burn it, and plant a new tree in its place." He faced the being, anger in his eyes. Three more balls transformed into staffs. The other two became arms where there had previously been arms. "All I want to do is create a world where none of that happens. Is that really so bad? This world has become too corrupt to repair from within. So we must start over, and do things better."

"Humanity has its darkness, that is true." The being conceded. "But it also has its light. If the two were so ignorant to each other, then I would not exist. The miraculouses embody humanity's capacity to swing to either side, like a pendulum. It is the combination, the _acceptance_ of these two fundamental forces that makes me powerful. Everybody has the potential for light _or_ darkness."

"But darkness doesn't need to exist to begin with." Azrael retorted. "If I remake the world, then we can exist _without_ darkness."

"Every light casts a shadow." The being replied. "Even if you remake the world, that fact will not change."

"Yes, it will." Azrael denied. "I will change the world _fundamentally._ Light doesn't need a shadow! The sun doesn't need to set!"

"You don't understand the role of Azrael." The being stated. "Azrael is not god. You will not have to power to change the world. Your role will be to merely give the world a second chance." Azrael snarled, like an animal.

"Says the person wielding _absolute power_." He snapped back. "You are nothing but a hypocrite." With that, he launched himself at the being, who raised its hands. There was another flash of light, and suddenly Azrael found himself without any arms at all. He stood in front of the being, all of his arms nothing but bleeding stumps. His balls had all disappeared. A beeping sound could be heard coming from the emblems on his chest.

"It is finished." The being said. "In five minutes, you will transform back into Cameron Lafitte. Afterward, you will be unable to become Azrael ever again." The crippled and broken boy before the being snarled at her.

"Congratulations." He said. "You've doomed the world to degradation." There was another beeping sound, and Azrael began chuckling weakly.

"Why do you laugh?" The being asked. "What amuses you?" Azrael convulsed, and fell over. He continued to chuckle as he lay on his back.

"Eventually, you will come to see that I was right." He said when he was done. "And then, when the world collapses around you, you will remember me. And you will regret stopping me fro changing the world." The being nodded.

"Perhaps." It acknowledged. "Or, you may come to realize that the world _can_ be reformed. And on that day, you will realize you were wrong. You will beg those who have come to know you, and you will be forgiven." A third beep told Azrael that his time was almost up. He stared up into the glowing lights that used to be the being's eyes.

"Why do you hold such an optimistic outlook?" He asked. "What makes you think that you can fight the disease?" The being knelt, and looked Azrael in the eyes.

"Truly, I do not know what course humanity will take." It told him. "However, Marinette chose to believe that it would better itself. Perhaps not without significant effort, but still." There was another beep. "This battle of ours has ended Azrael. Now rest. You are not needed yet." With a final look of defiance adorning his face, Azrael finally succumbed to unconciousness. There was a final beep, and in a flash of light, Azrael reverted into Cameron. The boy lay faceup in a pool of blood, legless and armless. Three unconscious Kwamis lay around him. The being looked him over for a time, and then it pressed its hand to the spider emblem resting on Cameron's chest. Immediately, and Akuma flew out of it. The being caught the Akuma in its hands, and purified the darkened butterfly. Then, as the now-white butterfly flew away, the being raised an arm to the sky and created another shuriken. Then, still looking at the unconscious boy in front of it, it threw the shuriken into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug." Upon uttering the phrase, the shuriken exploded, and enveloped the world in a deep purple light.


	14. Chapter 14

Cameron was kneeing before Master Fu, who stood with his arms crossed. Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Nino, and Marinette's parents stood near the wall, watching. All of the Kwamis floated about, also watching the proceedings. Phoo sat on the floor in front of Cameron. They were in Master Fu's dojo. After the being used the Miraculous Ladybug, it powered down and became Marinette once again. As soon as she had powered down, she had taken the remaining miraculouses from Cameron and put all of the unconscious Kwamis in her bag. Then, she sprinted back to where her friends had been waiting (Adrien included), and together, they rtrieved Cameron and brought him back to Master Fu's dojo, where they found everything back to normal. The old man simply took Cameron and waved them off, telling the to return the next week. And so, the kids split, but not before Alya and Nino, who were still transformed, contacted the befuddled police. Within the hour, they managed to rile the police, and Gabriel Agreste was arrested on suspicion of being Hawk Moth. Then, the children had gone home and rested. Over the next week, several changes had made themselves known: Ladybug and Cat Noir, along with their new sidekicks Rena Rouge and Carapace, attended Gariel's trial, where they revealed once and for all that he was Hawk Moth. He was sentenced to life in prison, and all of his possessions (except for his company and his house) were inherited by Adrien. The company went to Gabriel's assistant Nathalie, because Adrien was sick of being a model. The company was renamed 'Nathalie.' The house was repossessed, and put back up on the market. Instead of being homeless, Marinette's parents offered for Adrien to live with them, which Adrien graciously accepted. Despite now living with Marinette, the two hadn't had any time to actually talk or interact with each other, as they were constantly busy as their superhero alter egos, dealing with the aftermath of Hawk Moth's arrest: they had to attend an insane number of press conferences, they had to help explain to the city what had happened (they told them that Hawk Moth destroyed the city, and that their new partners helped them defeat him), because the majority of the citizens couldn't remember what happened. As a matter of fact, the only people who remembered anything at all were Alya, Nino, Adrien, Marinette, Master Fu, Marinette's parents, Cameron, and the Kwamis. The week had gone past faster than they expected, and they had all come to witness Cameron's sentencing.

"Cameron Lafitte," Master Fu began, "you abused the power of the miraculouses. You killed innocent people and destroyed the city of Paris in your pursuit of power." Cameron stood up fiercely, or he would have, but his hands were shackled to the ground.

"I didn't abuse anything!" He growled out. "I was going to use the miraculouses to save the world, but you prevented me." He directed the last part at Marinette. Master Fu shook his head.

"You don't understand the true power of Azrael, do you boy?" He asked. Cameron narrowed his eyes and looked up at the man in front of him.

"Then explain it to me, oh 'Great Guardian.'" He spat.

"Azrael is meant as a do-over." Master Fu explained to him. "A way to give the world a second chance. Not a way to remake the world however one sees fit. Once Azrael resets the world, they vanish with the rest of us. The new world will be left to progress on its own. There's no guarantee that things would be better, but there is a chance." He gained a sympathetic look on his face. "In fact, there is every possibility that the world you would have created would have been worse than the world is now. You may even create a world in which the Kwamis don't exist at all." Cameron recoiled away from him, as far as the shackles would allow.

"You're lying." He hissed. "YOU'RE LYING!" There was a cough from the ground in front of him, and he looked down at Phoo.

"He is telling you the truth milord." The spider Kwami said weakly, before coughing again. "You misunderstood Azrael. I think it was my fault. I explained it wrong. I-I'm sorry." He started shivering, and curled up in a ball. Cameron immediately picked him up in his hands, and held him as close as possible.

"Are you alright?" He asked his Kwami. "What's wrong?" Phoo was overcome by a coughing fit, and Cameron extended his arms a small bit away from his chest. He watched his Kwami convulse with a look of horror on his face. "Phoo!" He looked at Master Fu desperately. "Do something! Heal him!"

"H-he can't." Phoo stuttered out once his fit ended. "I can't be healed now."

"Why not?" Cameron asked. "What's wrong with you?"

"I was never meant to fuse with the other miraculouses." The Kwami replied. "I was always more fragile than the other Kwamis. When you used me to form Azrael, I was overwhelmed."

"But, weren't you part of Azrael?" Cameron questioned. "I thought Azrael was a combination of all the miraculouses."

"I t-t-told you that you m-misunderstood." Phoo struggled to explain. "Azrael is a combination of the _main_ miraculouses. Bee, Fox, Moth, T-turtle, Peacock, L-ladybug, and Black C-cat. There are other miraculouses. Many more."

"So, what's going to happen to you?" Cameron asked. His worry grew as his Kwami suddenly became short of breath.

"My miraculous has been stressed beyond its intended limit." Phoo finally explained, once he caught his breath. "In a short time, it will be unable to hold itself together, and I will vanish." Cameron was stunned. The entire world seemed to fade way.

"You're... going to die?" He said slowly, uncomprehending. Then, he became angry at his dying friend. "Why didn't you tell me!? I assumed that I needed EVERY Kwami, why didn't you tell me I was wrong!?" Phoo coughed again.

"I was too scared." He said. "I was scared that if you found out that you didn't need me, you would cast me aside once we found Nooroo. Besides, I figured that if you succeeded, I would cease to exist anyway. I wanted to stay with you for as long as I could." He stopped shivering, and his breathing steadied. "I was happy being your partner,, while it lasted." He sighed, and he slowly began to dissolve.

"Phoo! Phoo, wait!" Cameron cried. "Phoo, please don't go! I was happy being your partner! I'm sorry that I treated you like Nooroo's replacement. Please, don't leave me. Please." His please fell silent, as the purple Kwami dissolved into nothingness in his hands. Phoo was gone. Cameron stared at the spot where Phoo had been laying just a moment before, and he began to weep. Tears streamed down his face, and he let them flow. He sat there for who knows how long, his mind numbed by his grief. The others let him grieve for a moment. Marinette cried as well, and buried her head in Adrien's chest. Adrien hugged her, his own eyes misting up. Alya and Nino held hands silently, Sabine hid herself in Tom's embrace, and Master Fu looked on silently. The Kwamis were all frozen in horrified silence, shocked at the revelation before them: Kwamis can die. They knew this, but it never seemed like a reality until now. Eventually, somebody moved to break the scene of grief, but nobody expected it to be Marinette. She removed herself from Adrien's embrace, and she walked over to Master Fu. He looked at her as she approached, and she nodded her head to the door. Then, silently he followed her out of the room.

LINE BREAK

Marinette and Master Fu stood facing each other a short ways away from the dojo.

"What did you want to talk about Marinette?" Master Fu asked the blue-haired girl before him. The said girl looked to the ground, and hugged herself.

"I wanted to ask you something." She told him. She looked up at him, and he could see that her tears hadn't stopped falling. "Could you please not punish Cameron?" Master Fu raised an eyebrow.

"Where did this come from?" He asked. "I would think that you of all people would want Cameron to face punishment for what he's done." Marinette sighed, failing to meet Master Fu's eyes.

"When me and my friends were hiding from him, when he was trying to become Azrael, I had an epiphany." She told him. "I realized just how important Tikki is to me. She's like family to me. I can't imagine my life without her." Master Fu smiled upon hearing the girl's thoughts on her Kwami. "That was when I realized: If somebody took Tikki away from me, I'm not sure that I wouldn't do whatever was necessary to get her back. If what cameron told me about his life is true, then Nooroo was even _more_ important to him." She was finally able to meet his eyes. "What would you do if the most important thing in your life was taken away from you?" Then, quickly and without saying another word, Marinette turned and walked back into the dojo. Master Fu stood in thought for a moment longer. What Marinette had told him struck a chord and stirred up old memories. He shook remembrances about his past failures as a guardian out of his head for the moment, and he came to a decision. He made his way back to the dojo once he made his decision. The scene he found there was almost the same as when he left. The only differences were that Marinette was now standing next to Adrien, leaning against him for support, and Cameron, who was now weeping into his hands. Master Fu walked over to Cameron, and knelt next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. The grief-stricken boy turned his head to look at him, his eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Do you understand now?" Master Fu asked. "Do you realize the gravity of what you have done?" Cameron nodded, and went back to crying into his hands. Master Fu shook him gently. "Look at me boy." And Cameron obeyed. "Do you _really_ understand?" Cameron nodded again.

"I..." He began softly, his voice as frail as glass, "I... I killed Phoo." He grasped his hair in both his hands. "I killed my partner. I mistreated him. I abused him. I used him. Then I killed him."

"Do you regret what you have done?" Master Fu asked him. Cameron nodded.

"More than anything." He confirmed. "I will always regret this. I will accept any punishment. I can't-" He was overcome by a fit of sobs. He crumpled to the floor, weeping once more. "I can't ever forgive myself. Never." Master Fu watched him for a moment, before standing up and walking over to where Marinette stood. He held out his hand.

"May I have the Moth Broach, please?" He asked. Marinette nodded, and handed the miraculous to him. After the final Battle with Azrael, it was decided that Marinette would hold on to the unused miraulouses until Master Fu was ready to take them back. Once Master Fu had the miraculous in hand, he returned to Cameron's side. "Look at me." He commanded again, and again Cameron obeyed. Master Fu placed the broach in his hand, and his eyes widened. He tried to return the broach to Master Fu, but the old man wouldn't take it.

"Please. Take it back." Cameron pleaded. "I can't. Please. I can't let it happen again. I can't lose Nooroo. Not again."

"Listen up. This is your punishment." Master Fu told the distressed boy. "You will repent for your crimes by using the moth miraculous, and becoming a hero for the remainder of your life. This is your second chance." He could still see the resistance in the boy's bloodshot eyes. "You told me that you would accept any punishment. Are you a lair as well as a murderer?" Cameron froze.

"Please." He begged. "Any other punishment. Anything but this. I can't put Nooroo in danger. Please." Just then, the Kwami in question floated down and sat on the ground in front of Cameron's face.

"It's alright Cameron." He said. "I understand. I forgive you. You don't need to worry. Take the broach, and let's be a team again. Don't let Phoo's sacrifice be meaningless."

"But it was meaningless." Cameron replied. "I sacrificed his life, and for what? A power boost that I didn't even need? I can't risk your life Nooroo." The purple Kwami moved to rest himself on Cameron's hand (the one not holding the broach).

"Phoo knew what he was doing." Nooroo told his friend soothingly. "He saw you for you, and he wanted to continue being your partner. I do too. You might not believe it, but you are an amazing person. Even if you can never forgive yourself, I want you to know that I forgive you. If that counts for anything, then please accept the broach. Cameron, I choose _you_. You're my partner." Cameron stared at his old friend, his _partner_ , and hugged Nooroo close.

"Alright." He said. "I'll do it. Thank you Nooroo." Seeing the partner reconcile their bond, Master Fu smiled. His eyes flicked over to Marinette, and he saw a small smile gracing her face as well.

LINE BREAK

After Cameron had accepted becoming Nooroo's miraculous holder once again, Marinette returned all of the miraculouses to Master Fu (except for her earrings and Adrien's ring, obviously), and everybody began to file out of the room.

"Just a moment you two." He said to Alya and Nino before they could leave. After a moment of hesitation, the two of them walked back over to the old man. "I think it's necessary to reward the two of you for the part you played in saving everybody." Alya and Nino looked at each other, then looked back at Master Fu.

"I mean, thanks and everything." Alya said. "But we didn't really do much to help."

"Yeah." Nino added. "As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure we were part of the problem. We were akumatized, weren't we?" Master Fu nodded.

"From what I have heard, yes, you both were akumatized." He said. "But, as I understand it, you both rejected your Akumas."

"That's true." Cameron said. They all looked over at him. He had managed to sit up, even though his wrists were still shackled to the floor. Nooroo was sitting on his shoulder, and the Moth Broach was pinned to his lapel. "You both rejected your Akumas. That isn't an easy thing to do, especially since you've been akumatised before. It must have taken a real act of willpower to break out of that." Master Fu nodded.

"Not only that, but I understand that you two used the miraculouses, to help fend off 'Azrael.' Am I correct?" He asked, directing the question toward Cameron, who nodded.

"Well, alright, we did." Nino admitted. "But we didn't know what we were doing, and we didn't really do anything to help."

"You distracted me quit a few times." Cameron piped up. "And, if you weren't there I would have probably reclaimed the Fox and Turtle miraculouses."

"And that brings me to why I wanted to speak with you." Master Fu finished. He smiled at the two teenagers before him. He turned to Alya.

"Young lady, it seems Trixx thinks quite highly of you." He told her. She looked up at the fox Kwami, who smiled down at her from above Master Fu's head. "And so, because of the virtue you have shown, I think you would be the perfect holder of the Fox Necklace." He gave the necklace to Alya, who took it wordlessly. Master Fu then turned to Nino.

"Now for you, young man." He said. Wayzz caught his eye, and the Kwami nodded. Master Fu smiled. "It has recently come to my attention that I may be getting too old to hold a miraculous myself." He placed the Turtle Bracelet in Nino's hands. "I think you would make an excellent partner for Wayzz. Please take good care of each other." Both Alya and Nino were stunned.

"I-I don't know what to say." Alya managed to get out. "I mean, I'm honored and everything, but-"

"Dude, we can't accept this." Nino finished. "This is a huge responsibility."

"If anybody deserves it, it's the two of you." Cameron interjected. "Especially if _I_ deserve a second chance."

"And besides," Master Fu continued. "didn't you two already introduce yourselves to Paris as a new duo of heroes who were here to assist Ladybug and Cat Noir? What would the public think if you two never showed up again?" The two teenagers hesitated a second longer, and then they both nodded.

"Alright. We'll do it." Alya conceded.

"You won't regret this, dude." Nino said. They both thanked him, and then they left, followed by their new partners. Once they were gone, Master Fu smiled.

"No, I don't think I will." He said.


	15. Chapter 15

After they had left Master Fu's dojo, Marinette pulled Adrien aside.

"Hey, I think we need to talk." She said. She turned to her parents, who had stopped to watch the couple. "Mom, Dad, We'll meet you back home later, okay?" All the did was nod, smiles on their faces, as Marinette dragged Adrien to an empty Cafe down the street. Once they were there, they sat down at a booth, and Marinette ordered some hot cocoa and pound cake ( **AN: I have no knowledge of what kinds of foods or beverages would be served at a french cafe, and I don't know if either Marinette or Adrien drink coffee** ), while Adrien just ordered some cocoa. They remained silent until their orders arrived. In fact, it wasn't until Adrien had almost drained his cup of cocoa, that he worked up the courage to bring up the topic that had been bugging him since he found out about it.

"Marinette, I need to tell you something." He said. Upon hearing his voice, Marinette (who had previously been distracted by her own trepidation about broaching a topic) looked at him curiously.

"What is it?" She asked. Adrien found it hard to meet her eyes.

"When we first started working together, as Ladybug and Cat Noir, I saw how amazing you were. Your confidence and strength inspired me, and before I knew it, I fell in love with that heroine that called herself Ladybug." He managed to look at her, sheepishly. "I know you noticed. I flirted with you _every day_. The only way I could have been more obvious was if I outright confessed." He cleared his throat and looked away again. "But, you probably thought I was just a shameless flirt, didn't you? I guess I can't really blame you if you didn't notice, though. I wasn't any better." He gripped the cup in his hands fiercely. "I'm really sorry, Marinette. I'm sorry that I never noticed how you felt. I never meant to hurt you." He looked at her again, but it was hard to meet her eyes. "You know that, right? I didn't mean to break your heart. Please, can you forgive me?" Marinette remained quiet for several seconds, processing Adrien's apology, and she sighed.

"Adrien, when I met you, I thought you were just another stuck up rich kid." She finally said. Adrien felt his face heat up in embarrassment, remembering his fist day at school. "But, I came to see that you were a genuinely sweet and caring guy. You were _perfect_. I couldn't help it. Before I knew it, I fell head over heels for you. I thought that I was pretty obvious, considering how I could never even hold a _conversation_ with you. But, if I was oblivious to you as Ladybug, then I can't really be mad at you for being oblivious to me as Marinette." She set down her cup. "After all, who would ever prefer clumsy, stuttering Marinette over the confident and beautiful Ladybug?" Adrien's eyes widened.

"That's not-" He started, but he was interrupted by a new voice.

"That isn't true at all Marinette." Said the voice. Both Marinette and Adrien jumped, and looked over at the source of the voice. The found Cameron standing there, his hands behind his back. Before either of the two could reply, Cameron continued. "I just wanted to apologize to you Marinette. Akumatized or not, I had no right to manipulate you like I did. For what it's worth, I regret what I did to you, and I hope you don't still feel anything for me. I don't expect you to ever forgive me, but I just wanted you to know that I regret my actions." He turned to leave, but he paused, and looked back over his shoulder at them. "I don't know if you asking me out still counts, but just in case it does, I'm breaking up with you." He hesitated, and then he continued. "Also, if you're willing to accept my advice, I think you two would make each other very happy." With that, he turned around and walked quickly out of the cafe. Marinette and Adrien continued to stare at the place he had been standing at for a couple seconds, ad then they looked at each other sheepishly.

"How did things get so complicated between us?" Adrien asked her. Marinette shook her head.

"I have no idea." She replied. "But what do we do now?" Adrien hesitated, before proposing his idea.

"Well, i-if it's alright with you," he began, uncertainly, "would you...consider giving me a chance?" Marinette just stared at the boy she had been crushing on for so long, and she felt something inside of her rekindle. She smiled, and nodded. Adrien was overcome with relief, and he had the thought that things might actually have worked out for the best. Then, without thinking, and before he could stop himself, he made another request. "Do you think that I could...kiss you?" Once he realized what he had asked, his face became just as red as Tikki was (who was, by the way, watching the pair silently, as was Plagg), and he tried to stutter out an apology, but he couldn't seem to find his voice. Marinette, once she registered what Adrien had asked her, smiled wider, feeling that rekindled spark ignite even further. Wordlessly, she slid out of her seat, and sat next to him on his own side of the booth. Then, before he could react, she threw her arms around him.

"I've waited so long for you to ask me that." She said. Then, without waiting for him to respond, she kissed him on the lips. After a moment of stunned hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her, and he returned the kiss. Simultaneously, the new couple began to feel their relationship strengthening, as if it were a physical, tangible thing wrapping itself around them, bringing them closer. Plagg quietly entered Marinette's bag, and he and Tikki held hands while they watched love bloom between their holders.

LINE BREAK

A couple days later, Ladybug, Cat Noir, Rena Rouge, and Carapace attended another press conference. The main topic of this one was what the heroes were going to do next, now that Hawk Moth has been defeated. It was at this press conference that the heroes assured the public that they would still be around, helping out where they were needed.

"In fact," Ladybug told Nadja Chamack, the reporter interviewing the foursome, "we will be joined shortly by one more new hero. He has inherited Hawk Moth's miraculous, and he has sworn to use its powers for the good of everybody." Somebody walked into the studio in which they were recording the press conference, and Ladybug smiled. "Here he is now." Everybody turned, to see the new hero approach. He looked exactly like Hawk Moth did when he transformed, right down to the cane. The only difference were his eyes. Instead of being silver-gray, his eyes were cerulean blue. He held out his hand to Nadja, who shook it.

"Hello." He greeted her. "I believe my companions told you that I would be attending?" The reporter nodded, and motioned for him to sit on the couches she had set up for the interviewees to sit on. He nodded, and did so, sitting between Ladybug and Carapace. Nadja cleared her throat, and began her interview with the new heroes.

"Well, Mr. Hawk Moth-" She began, but she was interrupted.

"Please don't call me Hawk Moth." The new hero said. "I want to distance myself from my... predecessor. Please, call me Mothman." Nadja nodded.

"Alright Mothman." She corrected herself. "Do you have a statement you want to make to the people of Paris?" Mothman nodded.

"I just want to say that, while the people of Paris may not entirely trust me due to my predecessor's actions, I will do my best to earn their trust." He answered. Cat Noir leaned forward, his arm around Ladybug's shoulders.

"Trust me, earning trust is something that he does really well." He quipped. Mothman looked over at him, and Ladybug elbowed Cat Noir in the ribs hard. Nadja put her hands to her ear, as if an announcement was coming in over her earpiece.

"Well, that's all the time we have for this interview." She told the five heroes before her. She stood up and shook their hands. "Thank you all for coming today." After shaking their hands, she turned to the camera. "And to all the viewers out there: I'm Najda Chamack. Don't be bemused, that's just the news." She didn't leave her position until the cameraman waved to her that they were off the air. She smiled and turned back to the heroes, only to find the couches empty.

LINE BREAK

Cameron found himself standing in front of the school. It had been a couple hours since the press conference (interview, whatever, he didn't really care), and everybody had gone home. He had wandered around for hours, just taking in the sights of Paris. Eventually, he had found himself in front of the school. The sun was setting, painting the word in hues of red and gold.

"Is there something on your mind?" Nooroo asked him. The purple Kwami had been hidden in the inside pocket of his jacket (just like Phoo ( **AN: Or Plagg** )), but had flown out once Cameron had begun staring at the school.

"I have so many things to repent for Nooroo." Cameron replyed. He looked over at his partner. "So many things to apologize for. To you, to everybody. I don't know how I'm going to be able to live with myself, knowing what I've done." Nooroo smiled.

"You are a kind person." He said. "I think I told you that before. Don't worry. I'll always be here for you." He extended his arms out, as if asking for a hug. Cameron, smiling, obliged. He had the briefest thought hat, should anybody see him, he would look like he was hugging himself in front of the school. However, after that brief moment, all of his focus was on the Kwami in his arms.

"You're a really good friend Nooroo." He whispered. "I don't know what I can do to repay you for everything you've done for me, but I promise I'll try my best." Then, simultaneously, as if unified by some unexplained force, they both spoke to each other the words that affirmed their bond.

"You will always be my partner."

LINE BREAK

 **AN: FINISHED! I finally finished. Now, before I sign off, I have a few things I would like to discuss. 1: I forgot that the miraculouses disguise themselves when the person isn't transformed. Imagine the spider necklace takes the form of a circular cocoon-like thing. Also, Cameron's version of the moth broach is similar to Gabriel's, except that it doesn't open. 2: I was considering naming the new Hawk Moth Animo. Animo is a masculine version of the word Anima, which is the Latin word for soul or life force. I was considering this because butterflies (and, by extension, moths) are seen as representations of the soul. Plus, Animo is a romanization of the Spanish word Ánimo, which translates to 'cheer up,' which represents his vow to use the moth miraculous for good. If you think that I should have named him Animo instead of Mothman (I hope I don't need to explain that choice), then please let me know. If enough people prefer that name, then I'll be more than happy to change it. 3: I am thinking of writing a sequel to this story, which I would title 'Unity.' I intend to write this story, but I may take a longer time to write it if I don't think anyone wants to see it. So, if you would like a sequel as soon as I can write it, please let me know. 4: I worked really hard on this story. So, if you could please take a moment or two to review this story and tell me what you think of it, please do so. I would really appreciate it. Finally, 5: If you do deign to review (first of all, thank you so much), and if you do want a sequel as soon as possible, could you also include your own ideas for Kwamis, miraculouses, or heroes. If I really like the idea (and the original creator allows me to do so), then I will feature the character in the sequel. Sorry for the long conclusion, but thank you for reading both it and my story. See you all later.**


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